I Lost My Body (2019) Netflix/Drama-Fantasy RT: 81 minutes No MPAA rating (language, violence, bloody images, an obscene gesture, drinking) Director: Jeremy Clapin Screenplay: Jeremy Clapin and Guillaume Laurant Music: Dan Levy Release date: January 10, 2020 (Philadelphia, PA) Cast: Hakim Faris, Victoire Du Bois, Patrick d’Assumcao (French)/Dev Patel, Alia Shawkat, George Wendt (English). Originally spoken in French/Dubbed in English
Rating: ***
The premise sounds like a scenario from an old grade-Z horror movie. A severed hand escapes from a laboratory and goes looking for its owner. There is a not-so-subtle difference though. In a horror movie, the hand would go on a killing spree. In the French animated film I Lost My Body, its sole purpose is locating the body to which it was once attached until an unfortunate workshop accident involving a table saw. I know it sounds macabre, but it’s actually life-affirming with its message about pushing past tragedy in order to experience life. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.
The hand belongs to Naoufel (Patel, Slumdog Millionaire), a young French man still dealing with the childhood tragedy that left him in the custody of an uncaring uncle and his a**hole cousin. He delivers pizzas by bicycle and isn’t very good at it. One night, he tries to deliver a pizza to a young woman, Gabrielle (Shawkat, Arrested Development), in an apartment building, but can’t get past the security door. They end up having a nice conversation via the intercom. The next day, Naoufel tracks down Gabrielle, but is afraid to speak with her so he follows her to her uncle’s place and pretends to be there about an apprentice job. Gigi (Wendt, Cheers), a terminally ill carpenter, reluctantly gives Naoufel a job after learning he’s an orphan. In his new position, he hopes to win over Gabrielle. Naturally, he doesn’t tell her who he is.
Naoufel’s story is told in flashback form as his hand makes its way across Paris. The notion of a hand experiencing flashbacks is weird, but I’m willing to accept it because the point of I Lost My Body is its journey across Paris, one fraught with dangers like pigeons, rats in the subway, traffic, frozen lakes and a protective seeing-eye dog. When Clapin focuses on this aspect of the story, it’s very good. At times, it feels like a waking dream. Some of the images are incredibly beautiful like pictures in a children’s book borrowed from the library (coincidentally, Gabrielle happens to work at a library). But make no mistake, I Lost My Body is NOT for children. It contains profanity, bloody images and an offensive gesture. I just thought I should make that clear.
My issue with I Lost My Body is the love story at its center. Whatever way you look at it, Naoufel is basically a stalker. I know he’s shy, awkward and socially inept, but it’s still a little creepy how he goes about finding and following Gabrielle thereby rendering everything that follows creepy as well. In not being straight with her from the start, a dark cloud hangs over their budding relationship. You dread what will likely happen when the truth finally comes out. I did, however, find Naoufel’s backstory interesting. As a child, he wanted to be a concert pianist and an astronaut. He had an old tape recorder that he recorded his everyday life on. He was filled with wonder and questions about life. That all changed after the tragedy. Losing his hand could very well be the best thing that could have happened to him.
The animation in I Lost My Body is first-rate. It’s the traditional hand-drawn kind you don’t see anymore in this day and age of Pixar. It suits the material perfectly. It’s a well-made movie all around. Based on the book Happy Hand by co-screenwriter Laurant, it’s one of those movies that just stay with you. It has its flaws, but they don’t impede one’s enjoyment of the film. It’s definitely original. I love how it turns the macabre into something beautiful. I don’t think Tim Burton or Roald Dahl could have done any better. It’s one to keep an eye out for.
