The famous bear invasion of Sicily – La famous invasion des ours en Sicile (2019)

Directed by: Lorenzo Mattotti | 82 minutes | animation, adventure | Dutch voice cast: Frank Hoelen, Ewout Eggink, Simon Zwiers, Martijn Claes, Canick Hermans, Dilara Horuz

It doesn’t enjoy the same status as ‘Le Petit Prince’ has in France, and is certainly less known worldwide, but ‘La famosa invasione degli orsi in Sicilia’ the children’s book by journalist, writer and artist Dino Buzzati from 1945 is a classic in Italy. The Kafka of Italy, best known worldwide for his novel ‘Il deserto dei Tartari’ (‘The Desert of the Tartars’), provided his only story for children, about a bear army looking for a robbed bear child, with illustrations of his own hand. . Those images of marching bears, flying swine and a huge, monstrous tomcat, along with the mystical story with symbolic undertones, inspired renowned illustrator Lorenzo Mattotti to turn it into an animated film. The result is the digital animation film ‘The famous bear invasion of Sicily’ (2019).

Mattotti has translated his painterly drawing style, which is a combination of various movements including expressionism, fauvism and symbolism, to the big screen and has chosen instead of the black and white of his last other animation contribution in ‘Fear(s) of the Dark’ (2007 ) for strikingly powerful colors and clear lines. Digital technology creates a robust and at the same time immense spatial world in which everything is constantly in motion. Richly filled scenes alternate with more sober, graphic images, and dynamic lighting creates a strongly contrasting play between light and dark.

Whether Dino Buzzati’s little tale—about a bear father’s love for his son, and about the naive animal world and the corrupted world of humans—is ideally served by this is open to debate. In any case, the worn operetta-like narrative style of the original is missed. It gives Buzzati’s fabulous story a weight that Mattotti’s film version lacks.

Despite this, ‘The Famous Bear Invasion of Sicily’ stands out from the rest of the animated films released in 2019, thanks to its eye-catching visual style.