This was quite an experience. I have never been in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, and I was quite afraid I wouldn’t get there in time since you have to take a bus there (and the 100 bus is not exactly famous for being very punctual). Luckily I got a bus right away (and I caught the shuttle bus on the way back too). In the end I was there 25 minutes early and was able to get a very good seat, even though I was sitting inmidst of a crowd of children. It turned out that this was a good thing, because kids talk to their friends and so I was able to hear firsthand what they thought about the film. They would comment “oh it’s so cute!” about the little robot, laugh out loud many times and generally be very vocal about their thoughts (largely they were ecstatic and loved it to pieces).
The screening also came with a Q&A but I was too busy to stay for its entirety, which is especially sad for this film because I really enjoy the questions asked by children. (Actually I didn’t really stay for any Q&A’s this year at all because there were so many other things going on at the same time. By the time I got less busy, the Berlinale was almost over and there were no Q&A’s anymore.) I listened for a few minutes and learned that the film’s puppet characters were actually part of a children’s TV series and the director designed the puppets and originally trained as puppeteer. Also, the little girl who plays the main character seems really professional and ambitious, the kind who has always dreamed of making it big as an actress. I actually wanted to learn more about the film, and find these Q&A’s to be one of the most interesting aspects of the Berlinale overall, but I have no regrets.
Upp i det blå (Up in the Sky)
Sweden 2016, Petter Lennstrand, 82′
Pottan’s parents are very busy and want to drop her off at a pony farm. Accidentally, she ends up at a recycling yard instead, where the team consists of a puppet who is supposed to be the boss but actually just talks a lot, an older puppet who likes to tinker with recycled things and a wanted criminal hiding out at the recycling yard. After they take in Pottan, she finds out that the chaotic but lovable group is trying to build a space ship, and soon they go on a quest to find a real rocket scientist to fulfill their dream.
Well, what can I say, “Up in the Sky” is the perfect children’s movie. It has wonderfully lovable, quirky characters tied together by a sweet friendship, even though or maybe because they all come with their own weaknesses. The film is funny, energetic and very knowledgeable about what children would get excited about in a story. Pottan is largely a generic main character, but she is not the kind of child adults imagine children would be like, but actually someone a child could relate to. Also, the kids in the audience especially loved the action-packed scenes in the second half of the film. Heck they even managed to work in a martial arts fighting scene.
I only found the busy parents a little over the top, because they go from completely not caring about her to suddenly becoming very attentive, but within a children’s movie this kind of exaggeration is fine, I suppose.
Did I ever mention that I think the name Pottan is really cute? I have a suspicion this cannot possibly be a real name, and a quick search on the internet suggests so as well.
I hope O will be ready for this film in a few years, and I think it’s actually a much more sophisticated and enjoyable film than most children’s films I have seen in the last few years. (Considering that just last year I saw “Zootopia”, “Finding Dory” and “Paddington”, this is quite a feat.)