As every summer, Louise is entrusted to her grand-parents for a few days of vacation in the country. The green grass of the garden, the swimming in the lake, the fishing with Grandpa, everything seems as sweet as Grandma's strawberry pies. Yet this year, the snow will fall in summer and a monster will die.
Dickhäuter, Paquidermo, 厚皮, 파키덤
France
Festival National du Film d'Animation de Rennes
Croatia
Animafest Zagreb
France
Annecy International Animation Film Festival
UK
Manchester Animation Festival
Morocco
Meknes International Animated Film Festival
USA
France
Germany
France
Germany
Croatia
France
Germany
Morocco
UK
USA
This short is incredibly subtle. You will understand the trauma laced into nostalgia without it feeling overwhelming. The animation looks hand painted, like a fairy tale book that wasn’t necessarily intended for children. In a few short minutes we know Louise and her grandparents, and we understand what the looming threat is. But it’s quite, unfortunately, like so many of these real life stories are.
If your down for something else frightening listen to Watch No Evil.
🇺🇸 In English:
To fall asleep, I don’t count sheep, I kill monsters.
The term “pachyderm” refers to the thick skin of some animals, such as elephants or rhinoceroses. When addressing Louise's trauma, this concept takes on a symbolic role regarding the difficulty in overcoming it.
Even after the death of the "monster" that caused her so much fear, the child remains with the memories, as they too have thick skin and are not easy to get rid of.
By dissecting its subtext, this short film reveals a very dark content that can be quite challenging to reflect, but needs to be discussed in some way. I believe its subtlety ensures a very empathetic approach that can soften some triggers.…
This film is on the Shortlist for the 2024 Academy Awards. The actual nominees will be announced on Tuesday, January 23rd.
It can be watched (at least for the next few days) here: Pachyderm
From the opening lines of narration, the somber timbre, the stark yellow tones of the backgrounds there is a sense of foreboding. Something is not right in the life of this little girl. As she continues to tell her story, a terrible realization dawns on the viewer. The subtitle pieces of the puzzle come together--her blank stare, the faceless shots of everyone but Louise, the desire to melt into the wallpaper, the overpowering hugeness of grandpa and his hands, the flower, and the broken pachyderm bone.…
"but the lake will never be deep enough".
this one destroyed me. the watercolour-y visuals took me back in an instant to the sweet animation of something like 'wolfwalkers', but the underlying, creeping horror of the story caught me off guard.
so much beauty and pain framed in such a tiny piece.
This film is so incredibly subtle, but I’m in absolute awe of the subtleties and how effective it is. Watched it a second time immediately after finishing just to make sure my read was accurate. The animation is simplistic, but perfectly effective and powerful. Highly recommend.
What hurts the victim the most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander.
Credit @Iturrigarrieta for the Bacon Number
Degrees of Kevin Bacon: 3
1. Christa Théret and Juliette Binoche in Non-Fiction
2. Juliette Binoche and Steve Carell in Dan in Real Life
3. Steve Carell and Kevin Bacon in Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Pachyderm is the most harrowing of the 2024 Oscar nominated shorts, about a girl’s memory of childhood with her grandparents. This subtle confession of innocence taken; of abuse done by people who should’ve been the narrator’s protectors is just heartbreaking and haunting. Pachyderm has no standout scene in an almost lyrical storytelling so serene and quiet that it’s almost unbelievable how the film is about trauma and its lasting effects. And to have a story delivered less explicitly nor graphic and still come out breathtaking is just great filmmaking.
The watercolor visuals are beautiful; a clever choice to use storybook like drawings to capture childhood soul. The scene where the child was swallowed by the wallpaper was done so well.
Overall, Pachyderm is a tranquil presentation of trauma which unsettles as it captivates until the last second.
Knowing that every kid will never be completely safe is something that comes to my mind more than I would like. I was a kid once, I couldn't keep myself safe either.
having the wallpaper envelope her, wow. I’ve never seen that feeling animated, and it was done perfectly here
The storytelling here is even better than the animation itself. What seemingly starts as youthful naiveté grows into something much darker, and I really dug the subtlety of it all. With some scenes looking like they could've been painted on canvas, the animation stays secondary to the narration since there wasn't consistent motion happening within the scenes, but there's still plenty of emotion here despite its short duration.
