This touching and life-affirming animated film centers on friendship, resistance and life set in an elderly care facility. Goya award-winner for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Animated Film from Spain in 2012, Wrinkles is a wonderful film that deserves the high acclaim. (JLH: 4/5)
Click HERE for our FF2 Haiku. Highly recommended by both me and Rich.
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Based on Spain’s popular graphic novel Arrugas, the award-winning animated feature Wrinkles begins in the seemingly normal setting of a bank. “Emilio” (voiced in the American release by Martin Sheen), is dressed in formal business attire. He is a bank executive, sitting authoritatively behind a large desk, assessing the mortgage papers of two young people who have come to his bank for a loan.
It is soon revealed, however, that Emilio is not in a bank at all – he is actually sitting-up in his bed in the home of his son, and they are not exchanging paperwork, but struggling over a bowl of soup. Emilio’s son has evidently been dealing with his father’s bedridden condition for quite some time, but when the bowl of soup goes flying off the tray, he finally gives up. The reality is that Emilio’s son and daughter-in-law are no longer able to deal with Emilio’s worsening Alzheimer’s disease, so in the next scene they finally move Emilio into professional residential care.
But even once inside the facility (with its ominously locked driveway door), Emilio continues to dress as formally as he did as a bank manager, earning him the nickname “Rockefeller” from his new roommate, “Miguel” (voiced in the American release by George Coe). Emilio, still hanging on to his dignity, wants to subdue his panic and overcome this new obstacle—the move into residential care—as he always did in the past. Isn’t this just the next “challenge” he must meet in his life?
So it is a mixed blessing for Emilio that he now he has Miguel at his side telling him he doesn’t understand where he is and he doesn’t appreciate the rules yet. Miguel thinks “Rockefeller” should consider himself lucky to have a roommate on hand who is eager to teach him the ropes, but Emilio isn’t so sure.
Throughout the course of this heart-wrenching film, however, it becomes clear that as Emilio fades mentally, Miguel becomes the one person who will stay by his side until the end.
With Miguel as our guide, we also come to understand the rules of this new world. In one scene, for example, Miguel walks Emilio past the facility’s indoor swimming pool and Emilio tells him how much he loves to swim. Oh, no, say Miguel with a laugh. This pool isn’t really for swimming. This pool is for the owners, so they can take pictures of it and tell new families that residents will have access to it. But no one ever comes to swim in this pool. It’s just for show…
Wrinkles is a very moving film written by Ignacio Ferreras and Paco Roca (who wrote the original graphic novel) along with co-screenwriters Rosanna Cecchini and Angel de la Cruz. Their collective vision has been beautifully realized in brilliant 2D animation. The touching scenes between Emilio, Miguel, and the other residents reminds you that, though life doesn’t last forever, love can still be triumphant.
Review © Jan Lisa Huttner (7/9/14)
Top Photo: Dinner at the home of Emilio’s son.
Bottom Photo: Dinner at the residence (from left) = Miguel, Emilio, Antonia, Dolores and Modesto.
Q: Does Wrinkles pass the Bechdel test?
No, not really.
Although there are some women residents and some women on staff, most of the dialogue consists of conversations between Emilio and Miguel. However, Dolores and Modesto also have one magical scene that is not to be missed!
