Strings

The marionette's strings are integrated into the story's underlying themes.

Herald rating: * * * * 

Here's a charming oddity: in the age of computer-generated wizardry that is more lifelike than real life, a Danish-sourced fairy-tale that creates a new genre - it might be called live-action animation - from the most ancient of formats.

The characters in Strings are all marionettes (or, for the benefit of readers too modern and sophisticated to recognise the word, string-operated puppets).

The craftsmanship of their manufacture is sublime - they are elegantly hewn from wood and mostly varnished so that they recall the African statuary that inspired Picasso's Don Quixote drawings.

They are also operated with breathtaking skill: a combination of movement, lighting, soundtrack and excellent voiceovers mean the film is able to conjure up moving emotional scenes and great fight sequences with equal effectiveness.

The trick of the movie is that the marionette's strings are not a production hazard but are effortlessly integrated into the story's underlying themes.

Hence the title. A character's strings are its connection to life - a clever conceit since it is through the strings that they are literally animated. Thus a character is killed by having its strings cut, although the movie plays with the idea's double-meaning by liberating an avian puppet near the end so it can fly away. Those who wonder how come the characters effortlessly pass through doorways may be too prosaic to enjoy this movie.

The story is a standard mythic quest material in which a handsome hunk risks all to avenge the murder of his father, but the film's charm resides in its artistry and self-conscious whimsy.

An enjoyable entertainment for the young and those who wish they were. 

CAST: Voices of James McAvoy, Catherine McCormack, Julian Glover, Derek Jacobi, Ian Hart, Claire Skinner, David Harewood, Samantha Bond
DIRECTOR: Anders Ronnow Klarlund
RUNNING TIME: 92 minutes
RATING: PG
SCREENING: Academy