Dean Fleischer Camp
Marcell the shell

Out of nowhere, the wonder emerges. Life flows even in the small things; inside a house, a world can be hidden. What is trivial is no longer so.

Marcel the shell is the debut work of Dean Fleischer-Camp, previously known for his online short films about (surprise, surprise) Marcel the shell. The story of this film is very simple: Marcel is a small shell that lives in this community of tiny beings residing in a house (which functions somewhat like a gigantic city for these characters), but due to an accident, this entire community disappears from the house, leaving only Marcel and his grandmother Connie, with whom he will try to navigate this difficult situation. Everything changes, however, when the young filmmaker Dean Fleischer-Camp arrives, deciding to film a documentary about the life of this small shell, posting the videos online and turning Marcel into a famous character. I won't tell you what happens next because you absolutely have to see the film, and from now on, I'll try to tell you why: first of all, the film's stop motion is crafted to perfection, making the presence of these little characters in the real world palpable, and animating everything frame by frame surely required tremendous effort, and compliments are due because the final result on the big screen is something excellent. The use of mockumentary to tell the story is interesting; it's a way of narrating a story that places the viewer in a condition where you are led to think that what you are seeing is real, creating greater interest and attachment to the story and characters. In this film, Fleischer skillfully manages this genre; I've seen few directors create a mockumentary like this, perhaps I'm exaggerating, but we're only a few steps below an Allen's Zelig. But the true highlight of this film, in the opinion of the writer, are the characters, each of which is very carefully characterized: the director himself, who tries to move forward in his life after some unfortunate events and finds comfort in staying with and helping Marcel in his precarious condition; Grandma Connie, now the only person left from her community, a very sweet and melancholic character, who from start to finish thinks of Marcel's well-being in this particular situation, encouraging him to overcome it and not close himself off to be able to survive without growing and opening up to the world; and finally, Marcel himself, this small shell living in a moment where he feels alone, willing to do anything not to let go of the last person of his kind and who inevitably during the film will take steps forward and also steps back out of necessity, moving from carefree moments to moments where he must be more grounded and stoic. This is ultimately what the film travels on, these three characters living their lives in its mundanity, but Dean Fleischer with this film manages to inject a maturity into the characters' mentality that impresses; Marcel may appear as a character still childlike, still a kid, but onto whom many responsibilities fall that he'll have to face, perhaps even denying himself. And not only this, the film tackles several very interesting themes: precisely, the community and the effects of its absence on the individual; the internet, which Marcel will first view with wonder only to quickly fall into the reality of facts and the mentality of people; change, from which Marcel will try to escape because it frightens him. And finally, what I've taken more than anything else from this film...Marcel the shell reminded me of what cinema is: the invasion of fantasy into real life. The Lumière brothers, with the arrival of the train, made all the spectators believe that the train was about to come off the screen and come at them. Marcel the shell, more than anything else, does this: making a shell with shoes real, turning it into a true person with its characteristics and problems, making everyone believe that somehow he exists. It's been a long time since I saw a film that involved me like this; it was like entering another dimension, and when the lights turned back on...it was all over, the train no longer seemed to come at me. Thank you, Dean, thank you, Marcel, for showing me and making me feel what cinema can spark in everyone: reality may not exist.