“The Girl Without Hands” What the director wanted to depict using the new animation method “cryptokinography”

The “female” perspective hidden in the cruel Grimm fairy tales

I've only been talking about the expressive techniques, but what makes ``The Girl Who Lost Her Hand'' so great is that the expression and story match so well.

The plot of the original Grimm fairy tale is shocking, in which a father succumbs to the devil's temptation and cuts off his daughter's hands in order to offer them to the devil. In order to make the girl his own, the devil tries to steal the girl's innocence in every possible way, and if that doesn't come true, he imposes one harsh trial after another in order to push her into the depths of misery.

“The Girl Without Hands” © Les Films Sauvages – 2016

Although the short-sighted schema of ``purity = virginity'' does not necessarily hold true in this work, it is clearly made clear from the moment the devil appears that her virginity is threatened. The devil does not have a fixed appearance, and can change his appearance as he pleases, from an old man to a child, but for some reason, in the scene in which he appears, his lower body is naked, and Furutin's condition is clearly depicted, albeit for a moment.

Director Rodenbach has been depicting naked human bodies and sexual activities in animation since his early short stories, but the devil's penis in this work is clearly the heroine's ``daughter'' (who is called by name). This shows that the many calamities and trials that befall the world are caused by the disparity between men and women in society.

“The Girl Without Hands” © Les Films Sauvages – 2016

A “daughter” is sacrificed to the devil in order to satisfy the desire of the father, the head of the family, to “become wealthy.” Even though the mother is worried about her daughter, there is nothing she can do about it. He goes on a wandering journey all by himself, crippled and having lost his soul. Her changing fate is also a journey in which she desperately seeks a place to belong in a society/era where women are not allowed to live according to their own will.

Although based on Grimm's fairy tales, Rodenbach finds distinctly contemporary themes surrounding women. By making full use of abstract visual expression, the film goes beyond the framework of a fairy tale and is elevated to a more universal story that is relevant to the present day in which we live. In fact, Rodenbach cites ``The Tale of the Princess Kaguya'' and Sunao Katabuchi's ` `In This Corner of the World '' (2016) as ``works depicting women'' that are similar to this work, and ``The Girl Who Lost Her Hand.'' When you watch the movie, you can't help but be struck by the director's intention in juxtaposing these three films.

Although I have given a somewhat complicated introduction, I would like you to travel through the fascinating visual world created by one artist and feel the will to live of a "daughter" who bravely faces misfortune.

reference:

“The Girl Without Hands” official website: http://newdeer.net/girl/

Text: Akira Murayama

Born in 1971. Writes articles for magazines, newspapers, movie sites, etc. Representative of “ShortCuts,” a review site for distribution-based works.

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"The Girl Without Hands"

Released nationwide including Eurospace from Saturday, August 18, 2018

© Les Films Sauvages – 2016

*Information as of August 2018 article publication.