Presented in preview at the Annecy festival, Unicorn Wars Ended a first day already well locked in the cinema of the Mikado foyer, on the edge of the old town. The time to return to the effervescence of the centre and to blow on the terrace, my mind wandered on the bike path along the lake. Enlightened by the full moon, the more I pedaled, the more I measured the slam that I had just caught in front of this Spanish cartoon. Under his mescaline-lighted bisounours, Unicorn Wars is much more than a anime Gore. His message is sensitive and inversely proportional to the rawness of the scenes of violence. The director Alberto Vázquez uses the art of subversion to better serve us an intelligent fable and directly questions our relationship to Other as to Nature. You can also find our video interview of Alberto Vázquez at the end of the article.
Interview with Alberto Vázquez, director of Unicorn Wars
Naturalborn killer
In Unicorn Wars, Bears and Unicorns have been at war for ancestral times. Like the myth of the Golden Age, animals once lived in harmony until the day the Bears discovered the Sacred Book. Since then, they have acquired knowledge, raised themselves above the unicorns who revolted in return. Like the hundred-year war that had to seem eternal to the people, the hatred of the other was so deeply rooted that no one asked why the war was suffering from any truce. Everyone sees a war right at their doorstep. The priests and the army are the ambassadors of the Haine whom they take care to feed to the gullible troops.
The Heavenly soldier thirsts for the blood of the Unicorns, « Key to eternal beauty according to the Holy Great Book » which echoes contemporary holy writings. His brother Dodu does not like violence and maintains a responsible relationship with nature. « As the final battle approaches, an inexperienced bear unit leaves the training camp for a rescue mission in the Magic Forest. » With such a synopsis and its shimmering colors that Barbapapapa would not deny, you would be wrong to believe in a criticism of Gulli cartoons.
Like productions Bobby Pills, Unicorn Wars is resolutely intended for an informed public. Alberto Vázquez plays with the spectator by multiplying the registers. The first part refers to Full Metal Jacket with a muscular and rhythmic training by the vocals of an instructor sergeant who directly recalls the one who harassed Baleine in Kubrick's film. Here it is Celestine's brother, Dodu, who will be subjected to the bullying of his brother and this mad company. At times, Unicorn Wars do not hesitate to multiply the grivot jokes by borrowing so much from the Anime Japanese where the Kawai expressions of characters are voluntarily amplified only to comic cartoons for adults. « Honor, pain and hugs » is bent by bluish like the « May the Force be with you » of the Star Wars.
« Here the hugs are made of steel, blood, and pain...»
The red line
In parallel, the world of unicorns is represented by the prism of a Bambi avatar: a young unicorn looking for her mother. Nature seems magical, except for a mysterious castle colonized by monkeys with disturbing rites... On the other hand, only cubs are anthropomorphized in a pure Cartoon style, unlike unicorns whose aesthetics blend perfectly with nature. Unicorn Wars maintains the mix of genres visually as well as symbolically, and all its strength lies in the ability to take us from one register to the other without shouting out.
While some situations can readily lend themselves to laughter, the latter quickly fades with a cleverly dosed intrigue. An acerbic critique of the crusade against unicorns and by extension against Nature emerges. The power of subversion is such that we would almost forget that these charming animals of Quatsus Wood are eviscerating cousins of Winnie Lsourson and vice versa.
« Whoever drinks the blood of the last unicorn will become beautiful and eternal...»
This ability to overcome the cute representations of the characters and this ease of generating emotion through the symbolism of situations is the great success of the film. The narration cultivates a suspense of every moment and this journey to the end of hell will take on airs of Predator Like the landing of Private Ryan. No one will be spared: neither good nor bad. To this is added frescoes of these intestinal wars that make the narrative change through the intervention of a narrator during key sequences of the film.
Unicorn Wars take a different turn in the last third of the film. Like the battle against white walkers of Game Of Thrones, unicorns are essentialized like absolute evil, which allows each one to find the courage to lift his bow and shoot the arrow that will strike the enemy. We then went through a burst of violence, in the trenches, with the grenade, with the axe and with the butcher knife to a finale, how confusing...
By alternating the registers to better cover up the codes, Unicorn Wars goes unbridled from comic to slasher Until the tragedy. Unicorn Wars is a powerful pamphlet against Man and his relation to otherness, but also against the domination of Nature. One will naturally think of this scene where the two rival brothers get rid of blueberries in a joy that surprises after the ordeal they come to endure. Like a moment suspended to remind us how generous the Earth is. Ultimate way to cut grass under the foot of the spectator, the credits were launched on the music Breathando Odio of the Spanish group Hongo. One last stab to rape the imagination of childhood and overthrow the codes of the cartoon fairy... After being noticed for his cartoon Birdboy: The Forgotten Children released in 2017, no doubt thatUnicorn Wars It is hoped that a plebiscite will meet with critical success for its release on November 30, 2022.
Unicorn Wars video review
Images from the film
Movie trailer
[...] RADI-RAF 2023. He had already worked on the excellent Unicorn Wars (see our review and interview) and signed films with Michel Ocelot (read our interview). With only about twenty [...]