CHARLOTTE MOVIE REVIEW

Remember when Oscar host Amy Schumer joked that “animation is something kids enjoy, and adults have to endure”? Anyone who has seen an animated film NOT made by Disney knows how totally false that statement is, but if you needed more proof, check out the new animated feature Charlotte. The film tells the true story of Charlotte Salomon, a German-Jewish artist who died at Auschwitz, but not before completing her masterpiece: a visual autobiography comprised of over one thousand paintings. This work, which she titled “Life? Or Theater?” is considered by some to be a precursor to the modern graphic novel. Both the paintings and the film detail Charlotte’s life from the age of 16 up to her death at the age of 24 including her struggles as an artist and as a Jew living in Berlin, her first experiences of love, her time as a refugee in France, as well as the dark secrets within her own family. Despite the grim subject matter, the film takes a relatively light approach to the story, emphasizing Charlotte’s triumphs in art and love over the horrors of the war, mental illness, and family dysfunction. Beautifully animated and boasting a fine voice cast (Keira Knightley, Marion Cotillard, Jim Broadbent, Mark Strong), our reviewers found much to admire but does the movie do justice to Charlotte’s story or should it have gone deeper into the more disturbing aspects of her life? Listen to our reviewers T.C., Rose, Melina, and Marco to find out what they thought about it.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Eric Warin and Tahir Rana

STARRING: Keira Knightley, Marion Cotillard, Brenda Blethyn, Jim Broadbent, Sam Claflin, Henry Czerny, Eddie Marsan, Helen McCrory, Sophie Okonedo, Mark Strong, Romain Duris, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Raoul Bhaneja, Julian Richings, Tony Nappo,

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Marco Noyola (Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, Audio Editor)

By day, Marco is a mild-mannered office worker, but by night he is a mild-mannered movie watcher. He does other mild-mannered stuff too.

“You don’t need to follow me. You don’t need to follow anybody!”

 

 

 

T.C. De Witt (Screener Squad)

T.C. De Witt is a multi-awarded writer/director originally from Wisconsin and now based in Los Angeles. His life has been devoted to the arts since he was a child. He’s been a stage performer, playwright, stand-up comic, film and television actor, radio DJ, podcaster published author, recorded musician, and comic writer/illustrator. He is now a professional screenwriter and has been thriving for the past decade, regularly offering his talents to production studios in LA, Chicago, Milwaukee, and internationally in Sydney and Poland. He’s provided content for Amazon Prime, Netflix, and several YouTube partners. His films have screened internationally, and his stageplays have been performed across the country. In the last ten years, he has directed 57 films, 23 episodes of his series The One Minute Rewatch, 300+ episodes of podcasts, and his multi-award-winning short film Screen: Righter screened at the Festival de Cannes in 2016. He has released two feature films, The Princess Knight and A Christmas Sunset. He thrives on collaboration and the thrill of sharing stories in all forms.

 

 

Rose Mattox (Screener Squad, Eye On The Prize)

Originally hailing from Austin then Houston, Rose has been an avid movie and TV fanatic pretty much since birth. She spends spending her days watching Star Trek reruns, 60’s spy fiction, and Audrey Hepburn movies with her beloved minion (see: dog Riley). She also occasionally dabbles in comedy, screenwriting, as well as graphic and interior design. Rose has been contributing to One of Us since 2019 as ...