{"id":297,"date":"2026-05-20T08:06:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T08:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=297"},"modified":"2026-05-20T08:06:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T08:06:31","slug":"louis-clichy-combines-realism-and-fantasy-in-cannes-animation-iron-boy-i-wanted-this-story-to-have-solid-foundations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=297","title":{"rendered":"Louis Clichy Combines Realism and Fantasy in Cannes Animation \u2018Iron Boy\u2019: \u2018I Wanted This Story to Have Solid Foundations\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\u201cIron Boy\u201d director Louis Clichy is happy to bring his latest animation to Cannes \u2013 even though the world\u2019s biggest festival is a whole different universe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018La Perra\u2019 Review: Dominga Sotomayor Shores Up Her Reputation With an Elegant, Unsentimental Story of Trauma and Healing<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m glad it\u2019s not in some \u2018special category\u2019,\u201d he tells\u00a0Variety.<\/em>\u00a0Sold by Playtime, \u201cIron Boy\u201d premiered in Un Certain Regard, dazzling critics, hailed by Variety<\/em> as \u201cboth visually dazzling and deeply personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFor us animators, Cannes is a foreign world. There\u2019s way more ego around. Also, there are still all these stereotypes about what animation is, like it being \u2018over the top\u2019 or just for children. But we can do subtle stuff too, because animators are really good actors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe adds: \u201cAnimation is expensive, so many people don\u2019t want to take risks. But that\u2019s our responsibility!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn his film, little Christophe grows up on a farm. Life is hard there, and it requires a strong backbone \u2013 which is precisely what Christophe seems to lack. He keeps collapsing, causing minor disasters at home and at school. The solution is simple: He must wear an iron corset. At all times.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe corset is a metaphor for adolescence,\u201d admits Clichy.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen you\u2019re that age, you don\u2019t feel comfortable; you want to cover up your body. It exaggerates this whole idea of not being happy with what\u2019s going on. Also, in a way, you have to be very \u2018straight\u2019 to survive on a farm. And he\u2019s different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tClichy grew up in the countryside, too.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI come from an agricultural background, but I moved to the city when I was 11 and my parents divorced. Now, I had to go back. I didn\u2019t want to tell my own story \u2013 I just borrowed some things that were important to me. [Screenwriter] Franck Salom\u00e9 helped me with that a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe notes: \u201cI didn\u2019t want anyone here to feel like a stereotype. Christophe\u2019s father doesn\u2019t like to express his feelings \u2013 he\u2019s from that generation of men \u2013 but he loves sentimental pop songs and that already tells you a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tChristophe constantly feels like he\u2019s disappointing his father. He\u2019s also increasingly aware that things aren\u2019t going well on the farm. He has to escape, and art offers him a way out. Just like for Clichy himself?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think that\u2019s pretty obvious,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI would also say that he\u2019s not just finding refuge in art \u2013 he finds another father figure in that church organist [who teaches him how to play]. Christophe needs someone to take care of him. I\u2019m not sure if this boy is actually a good musician. I didn\u2019t want him to play in a big concert or win a competition\u00a0\u00e0 la<\/em>\u00a0Billy Elliot. He\u2019s not Mozart, you know. He just likes this teacher and appreciates their time together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Andy Garcia\u2019s Neo-Noir \u2018Diamond\u2019 Earns 7-Minute Ovation at Cannes<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tClichy wanted to keep things down to earth in \u201cIron Boy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat was a balance I really wanted. There\u2019s something very realistic about it, but there\u2019s also all this magic. We go big when they shout and when they laugh,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI didn\u2019t know anything about organs before the movie, so I really had to study that. I think it\u2019s important to make sure you know what you\u2019re talking about. The audience might not know if you\u2019re cheating, or care, but I wanted this story to have solid foundations. Only then I could be sure that the realism and fantasy would work together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tClichy is behind \u201cAsterix: The Mansion of Gods\u201d and \u201cAsterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion,\u201d but \u201cIron Boy\u201d \u2013 produced by Eddy Cin\u00e9ma with Beside Productions and Regular Production \u2013 is a whole different ballgame. He calls it \u201ctraditional animation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBy which I mean it was developed frame by frame. That\u2019s why I love animation, and although CGI and 3D have become so fashionable, after \u2018Asterix\u2019 I wanted to go back to something much simpler. That\u2019s exactly what I\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHis chosen technique allowed him to be subtle when it came to the characters\u2019 expressions.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI liked the fact that everything was a bit\u2026 rough. It allowed me to be spontaneous, and fast and furious,\u201d he jokes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt can be tough because you still want to communicate so much, and all you have is one line. It forced me to be precise. You can\u2019t hide behind a full head of hair or beautiful clothes, so we had to make sure we were always on the same path.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe smaller budget ultimately allowed him to be free \u2013 \u201cwe had no limits\u201d \u2013 and to go beyond the usual restrictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWith animation, people either go very commercial or very arty, and then many viewers go: \u2018This is not for me.\u2019 I wanted to take a little bit of everything. There are animated films like that \u2013 it\u2019s enough to look at Miyazaki, who\u2019s often paints a realistic picture of the state of the world. I was really inspired by that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Her Private Hell\u2019 Review: Nicolas Winding Refn Gets Lost in His Own Private Filmmaking Hell with This David Lynch-on-Bad-Acid Disaster<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Iron Boy’ director Louis Clichy talks combining realism and fantasy in his latest animation premiered at Cannes’ to enthusiastic reviews.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[335,3,336,337,338],"class_list":["post-297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-animation","tag-cannes-film-festival","tag-iron-boy","tag-louis-clichy","tag-playtime"],"yoast_head":"\nLouis Clichy Combines Realism and Fantasy in Cannes Animation \u2018Iron Boy\u2019: \u2018I Wanted This Story to Have Solid Foundations\u2019 - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=297\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Louis Clichy Combines Realism and Fantasy in Cannes Animation \u2018Iron Boy\u2019: \u2018I Wanted This Story to Have Solid Foundations\u2019 - 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