The High Bar For “I Am Frankelda”
“I Am Frankelda” or its original Spanish name, “Soy Frankelda” hits Netflix on June 12. This is a stop-motion animated feature film by Arturo and Roy Ambriz, developed in their Mexico City-based studio, Cinema Fantasma.
This film is coming to the streaming service with a lot of praise and a major achievement. “I Am Frankelda” is the first Mexican feature length stop-motion production, and has already received award nominations. Not to mention that the Ambriz brothers are protégés of Academy Award winner, Guillermo del Toro, who helped them as a creative guide. Needless to say, my expectations were high.
I’ve always been a fan of stop-motion animation, from the early days of “Wallace and Gromit”, “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, “Coraline”, and recently, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”. With technology progressing and taking over, I’ve always been weary if filmmakers would even want to continue this kind of filmmaking, “I Am Frankelda” is a great sign that this genre is in good hands.
The Dark Stop-Motion World Of The Film
The story of “I Am Frankelda” takes place in 19th-century Mexico. We meet “Francis Imelda” , rejected by those around her because of her passion for writing dark stories. Despite the pressure to conform, she refuses to give up. But little does she know that there is a place where her monsters come to life, in a realm where fears and thoughts that haunt humans originate. A place ruled by a royal family that is divided by seven clans.
Those thoughts and fears are written by Procustes, a once talented writer, whose recent tales have not been effective in haunting humanity. This causes the King and Queen to grow weary of his work, causing Procustes to panic and look for a way to incite an uprising to take power for himself. With the fabric of both realms in jeopardy due to the lack of frights, Prince Herneval devises a plan to bring Frankelda to replace Procustes as a writer. The rest you’ll have to catch on Netflix.
The Mesmerizing Designs That Help The Pacing
The Ambriz brothers managed to create a beautiful, fantastical world using stop-motion. Throughout the film, we got to explore that world, in which time there is woven exposition that immerses us even further. While it’s a lot to take in, they have an effective distraction, the character designs.
Take Procustes for example. I found the details in his wardrobe to be very well done. We see how the green of his skin goes with his purple adorned jacket, colors we are used to seeing in villains. I love the addition of the cuffs poking out, all wrapping a chest plate that seems to highlight his species. Along with that are the terrifying legs that I could almost feel the texture of thanks to all the hair strands coming off of them. The thought of all of this being done practically, left me in awe as I enjoyed the artistry of Procustes and the other characters, buying the Ambriz a little more time for exposition.
Overall Thoughs On “I Am Frankelda”
With that in mind, I do love “I Am Frankelda” for their ability to take what many would consider “ugly” or “scary”. Every frame feels like an art piece that allow them to expand on their contrast between a dream and a nightmare, with the characters changing the narrative on what we should dislike and fear. Is it about what we are looking at? Or is the behavior or actions that we should really detest. While the story may be simple in the sense of Frankelda’s and Prince Herneval journey, it’s showcased in a beautiful and effective way that can only be achieved practically.
The Ambriz brothers have obviously been inspired by some of the best artists in the industry, and now look to continue this legacy and tradition to hopefully inspire other filmmakers to not take shortcuts because the results as we see in “I Am Frankelda”, are simply fantastic
Reviews