Common Sense Media Review
By Joyce Slaton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Belgian import is slow but beautiful; disturbing deaths.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
This Magnificent Cake!
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Made in Belgium in four languages (Dutch, French, and African languages Aka and Maninka) with English subtitles, THIS MAGNIFICENT CAKE! is set in 19th-century colonial Africa and follows the fates of five different characters. There's a porter who survives a terrible accident, a discontented king, a Pygmy man who works at a hotel, a military deserter, and a man who goes on a fateful expedition. Though each of the characters is very different, one thing links them: the change that has come to Africa also changes those who live or go there.
Is It Any Good?
Unique and absolutely beautiful, this Belgian import achieves astonishing visual effects with felted wool characters and stop-motion photography, but its storylines are kind of a bummer. Clueless white characters bumble into Africa, act badly, and die. Ill-used African characters try to improve their financial situation by working for the Europeans who've showed up, and die. There are no fewer than seven deaths in this 44-minute film, many of them characters we've watched struggle through their own segment. Whether you find that depressing or an eerie pleasure that illuminates a dark time of history depends largely on your perspective.
It sure is neat to look at, though. The animators use tufts and strands and puffs of wool to create waterfalls, smoke, and trickles of water from fountains. The characters have tiny, close-set eyes in giant faces; their bodies move and ripple so realistically that it's disconcerting, and almost dreamlike, to see the individual fibers they're made of. And it makes the film's creepy imagery all the creepier: the face of a dead man, swollen with decay and with ants racing back and forth across it; a Pygmy man who stands in a hotel with an ashtray strapped to his head for (white) guests to use. Even for a short film, This Magnificent Cake! is hard to watch, but it's also hard to forget.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the use of violence in This Magnificent Cake! How much is shown, and how much is suggested? Is the violence meant to be unpleasant or exciting? What's the impact of media violence on kids?
Do you think this movie is meant for young kids, or is it too scary? Are animated movies always for kids?
How might stories about the damage caused by colonialism inspire compassion and empathy? Why are these important character strengths?
Movie Details
- In theaters : October 18, 2018
- On DVD or streaming : September 24, 2019
- Cast : Jan Decleir , Bruno Levie , Paul Huvenne
- Directors : Emma De Swaef , Marc James Roels
- Studio : GKIDS
- Genre : Comedy
- Character Strengths : Compassion , Empathy
- Run time : 44 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 19, 2019
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