(courtesy IMDb)
SNAPSHOT
Archie is devastated to learn of the death of his beloved aunt. He makes the long journey to the home she’s left him in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland and a new day brings renewed hope for Archie and his dog. Archie is written and created by Domenica More Gordon, directed by Ainslie Henderson and produced by Christopher Young (courtesy YouTube)
Oh my heart – Archie is one of the most touching and authentic films about love and loss that I have ever seen.
Using stop-motion animation of felt puppets, the short film tells the story of Archie and his dog heading off to the stunningly immersive wilds of the Outer Hebrides in the wildest of stormy weather to find the home she’s left him in his will.
While it’s never explicitly stated in its nuanced, dialogue-free and emotionally resonant just over four minute runtime, the film suggests that Archie is badly in need of some kind of change of fortune, and that while the death of the person he seems to have loved most in the world would not immediately be seen as that needed change, when the sun clears the next morning after their arrival in the pouring rain late at night, the world just look a little brighter.
And with more clothes-wearing cows too.
Archie, which features the directorial work of Ainslie Henderson and the artistry of Mackinnon & Saunders (Fantastic Mr. Fox and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio), is a delight and it’s no wonder that its charmed festival audiences worldwide with Stop Motion Magazine noting that the film earned “the Best of the Fest Award at the 2019 Chicago International Children’s Film Festival”.
No matter how busy you are, find the just over four minutes to watch this film which captures so heartrendingly well what it is to be plunged into the maelstrom of grief and then to begin, little by little, to fond your way back out again.