13/06/2024 - Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach’s animation sees a little girl trying to escape the darkness of grief through vibrant splashes of colour

After premiering in Cannes’ ACID programme last year and winning a César and a European Film Award for Best Animated Film, the French-Italian feature Chicken for Linda! [+see also:
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trailer
film profile], directed by Chiara Malta (Simple Women [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) and Sébastien Laudenbach (The Girl Without Hands [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), has now screened in the Grand Competition - Feature Film programme of the 34th edition of Animafest Zagreb.

The plot of Chicken for Linda! revolves around the somewhat strained relationship between Paulette (voiced by Clotilde Hesme) and her daughter Linda (Mélinéé Leclerc). Paulette wrongfully accuses Linda of stealing her wedding ring, a painful reminder of her late husband Giulio. When the mother realises her mistake, she tries to make amends by promising to do whatever her daughter desires. Linda, who lost her father when she was only a small child, wants nothing more than the dish she remembers Father cooking: chicken with peppers. Although Paulette prefers ready-made meals thrown into the microwave, her poor culinary skills are not the issue. The real struggle is procuring a chicken amidst a general strike in Paris. But nothing will stop the tenacious mother and daughter, nor Linda’s friends, who also want to help. This set-up produces a police chase, love at first sight, rebellious clashes with authority figures and a bunch of forgotten peppers in the oven, smoking up the whole neighbourhood. It is a real slapstick adventure full of gags, sans a store-bought chicken. Will a living one be brutally sacrificed for the sake of reliving a childhood memory?

The film toys beautifully with the contrast between darkness and colour in 2D drawings reminiscent of children’s books. The characters’ contours are loosely drawn in black and then filled in with one distinct colour per person: Linda is a vibrant yellow, Paulette a warm orange, the father a fiery red, Linda’s aunt Astrid, a yoga teacher, a pale pink, and their chubby cat Gazza a cold purple, while their friends and neighbours are covered by the rest of the spectrum. As the characters move away from us, the paint leaks over the black outlines, resulting in smudges and smears and transforming the characters into short black lines surrounded by gaudy auras. The colours are especially bright in the film’s darker scenes, where the daylight technique is reversed so that the characters are now black and outlined in colour.

The exteriors are only loosely sketched and easily discernible, but they’re not realistic. The break with realism also occurs in the musical sequences, as Clément Ducal’s songs give insights into the characters’ minds and the community. They also slow down the fast, comical and dialogue-heavy plot full of puns and misunderstandings, where darkness constantly looms over the grieving mother and daughter. For Linda, there is the added element of the memories of her father fading away as she is getting older, and the fear that he will fade into oblivion. The contrast between a living chicken and the dead one from the supermarket is a prevailing metaphor for Linda and Paulette’s persistent grief, while the strike and other complications in the neighbourhood are a reminder that the larger community also has its struggles. Chicken for Linda! manages to brighten up the difficult topics of death and grief, and is equally entertaining for both adults and children. Thanks to her family, friends and neighbours, Linda can see the silver lining, even when life shows her its true colours.

Chicken for Linda! is a French-Italian production by Dolce Vita Films and Miyu Productions, in co-production with Palosanto Films. International sales are managed by Charades.