The Man Who Planted Trees

My initial thoughts on The Man Who Planted Trees was that it was a very long animation, however, once we got into the story I noticed that it did not seem that long, it actually seemed shorter than I thought. I really liked the art style frédéric bach, it seemed very whimsical and almost dreamlike.

Looking at other animation films that he has done, it seems that all of his films have that dream like style that makes the viewer fall into the story. The story itself was simple, yet still managed to get a point across. There was no conflict, yet the story itself remained interesting and engaging. Bouffier was a calm character that had a personal connection to the earth.  Something that I found interesting was that at one point in the film, it was revealed that his wife and son had died and because of that he moved into seclusion. It is as if he saw so much death that he decided that he wanted to provide life. Instead of humans taking life, he wanted to give it. Especially to an area that was barren and dead, he brought it life and meaning. Not only did Bouffier create life with nature, he gave life to the narrator. After meeting Bouffier, the narrator always came back, and always thought of him. In many ways, Bouffier provided the narrator's life with some meaning. 

During the film some other people and myself kept thinking something bad was going to happen to the forest. Some were expecting nature to destroy the forest. I kept thinking that the forest would burn down, something ironic like that. Nature destroying itself, in a sense like a body rejecting a new organ. However, that never happened and I think the action of thinking that something bad was going to happen says a lot about ourselves. It is as if we cannot have a happy ending, but the film proved that happy endings can be just as engaging, if not more telling about humans. Speaking about the fact that sometimes we learn the most in silence and sometimes meeting strangers provide us with an opportunity to get to know ourselves better and perhaps give us a chance to live a little more. I think another element that I really enjoyed about the film was the idea of happiness. All Bouffier did was plant trees and take care of some animals, he did not really talk to anyone, he just found solitude with nature. What he did made him happy and gave meaning to his life, I think we, as humans, tend to forget that sometimes slowing down and enjoying life is something we need to do. That to find happiness, we do not need to look all around the world and search in the smallest of corners, we can do anything that provides us with happiness. 

The use of color in the film also enhanced the storyline. Obviously at the beginning of the film when the narrator is in the desert, it is neutral colors, or plainer colors. 

This use of color almost shows the absence of life in the desert. It wasn't until the trees started growing that more vibrant colors were used, this could be just for the purpose of showing the many colors in nature, but it could also show the life that Bouffier brought to the lifeless desert.