(courtesy IMDb)
SNAPSHOT
After witnessing an old dark stormy cloud painfully rain and die in sorrow, Noma, a puffy white cloud realizes [sic] that Mixtli, her daughter, a dark stormy cloud, is in danger of raining prematurely. Nube is an animated short film written and directed by Mexican filmmakers Diego Alonso Sánchez de la Barquera Estrada and Christian Arredondo Narvaez. Both are graduates of the Gobelins animation school in France. (courtesy First Showing)
There is so much power when perfect storytelling meets perfect form.
Nube is an evocatively emotional example of what happens when a compellingly immersive narrative, full of quiet moments and dramatic punctuation points, including a heart-wrenching but somehow comforting final act, is told in just the right way.
The animation is just beautiful, the characters are so fully-formed and richly detailed and the tug-of-war between a mother wanting to protect her child and allowing it to be what it must be is as poignant and moving as it gets.
Nube is a pleasure to watch visually, full of rich, pastel colours and a sweeping joyousness to its form, but also because it injects so much relatable humanity in its pitch-perfect seven-minutes-or-so run.
What a delightful, affectingly told gem; watch and feel sad but also reassured that life finds a way to take something heartbreaking and turn it into something that does good and keeps the circle of life turning.