In times of war, a poor woodcutter and his wife live in a vast forest. One day, the woman finds and saves a little girl, bringing about an irrevocable change in the lives of the couple and of those whose path the child will cross. This is the son of Michel Hazanavicius. the first animated film. The Second World War is one of the darkest slabs of humanity. A time when humanity simply abandoned the grey war, when the world witnessed the extent of human cruelty. A promised time was one of revival, redemption and peace. The hand of faith has just struck Europe in its usual terrible way, with the enormous debt of a great war and a lost generation towering over it. The world has stopped, not because of Schick, or at least not only because of him, but because of what lies beneath. In the face of the greatest world tragedy to date, there is an increasingly bleak future. Germany lay in ruins, having just lost a war, the faith of its people and the power of its empire. Revenge was promised through humiliation. A few years after that remarkably dark period, there lived a humble old German carpenter couple. The man goes to cut down large trees and the woman ties the small branches together. The two spend a hard day’s work to reach a small house in the middle of the forest, where soup and a tired old dog await them. He never had a child where the woman begs for everything there is, abandoning God or never being aware of him. She begs the sky, the forest, and even the train gods for a train. And one day the train gods answered her prayers. In that empty corner of the forest, a train broke through the white winter snow, slowly but horribly arriving at its dreaded destination. And one day a baby is thrown from the train only for the old wooden woman to catch it. A cruel thing to some, but not to her. What follows is a beautifully crafted tragedy, a story about humanity: the loving force within it that builds and sacrifices, and the inherently evil side that avenges and rewards. Michel Hazanavicius’ animated film lends a very comedic style that puts you in the heart of an enchanted forest, and along with its quirky cast of characters and bleak World War II setting, it is one of the most beautiful tearjerkers in recent years. Idiots. A beautiful farewell to the illustrious career of Jean Louis Trintignant.