Ben Madilynn
“Love between sisters is a precious thing.” If you don’t know that going in, you’ll feel it after spending time with Sirocco and the Kingdom of Winds. This French animated feature has a simple story, yet is captivating enough in its action and unique animation, as well as heartfelt messages about family and the power of artistic expression, for viewers of all ages to appreciate. And if this is your first time hearing of it, that’s not much of a surprise – here’s to hoping this splendid tale can find its way to be more than a hidden gem.
Eight-year-old Carmen and five-year-old Juliette are two sisters who have been dropped at their beloved aunt Agnès’ house for the weekend. However, with Agnès physically and emotionally drained from work, a short cat nap leaves the girls unsupervised, with older sister Carmen doing her best to appease the rambunctious Juliette. An attempt to appease her with one of Agnès’ fantasy novels about the Kingdom of Winds goes haywire, as a sentient toy from the story comes to life right in front of them. In its attempt to get home, Juliette chases after, and the two sisters find themselves in an enchanting world – both in its magic and its visuals.
The film’s animation style is beautiful. It’s easy to get lost in or just consider taking a screencap of just about any frame of the movie, considering its painting-style animation and bizarre yet prepossessing backgrounds. It’s obvious that its larger-than-life, spirited “villains” have taken some influence from Ghibli films, but it certainly doesn’t feel like the paint-by-numbers attempt at copying the style that Netflix’s My Oni Girl did. Upon their entrance to the Kingdom of Winds, the girls have found themselves transformed into anthropomorphic cats. While the toy assures them that it’s temporary, the change doesn’t seem to phase Juliette, who quickly and adorably starts to lean into her new form. Not that it makes a considerable difference to the new and colorful world around them either, full of various anthropomorphic animals and fantasy creatures (the mayor is a goblin).
The film doesn’t have much of a sense of menace, with the biggest threat to the girls being the attempted marriage of Carmen to the mayor’s bug-eyed, repellent son. (Like father, like son, you could say.) Yet the girls’ adventure never becomes dull, especially when the Kingdom’s famous opera singer Selma weaves into their tale. There’s far more to Sirocco than his frightening storms introduced at the beginning of the film, and we enchantingly unpack the connection between the supposed villain, Selma, and the key to getting the girls back to their world.
There’s an overall strong emphasis in the story on sisterhood – both in Carmen and Juliette’s dynamic and, as we come to discover, the element that brought Selma to life in the Kingdom of Winds. Carmen and Juliette act realistically for their ages and as siblings – striking a similar feel to My Neighbor Totoro, Carmen does her best to be stern as she’s impromptu ‘in charge’ of Juliette, but in a loving way. Juliette acts realistically for her age as well – as Carmen attempts to lure her into staying silent by playing the classic ‘quiet game’, Juliette booms back “Your game is stupid! I don’t want to play!”. While she’s full of spirit and occasionally sass, she doesn’t ever become too obnoxious, as many less imaginative children’s films may have leaned into for cheap laughs. Furthermore, it’s nice to see a genuinely wholesome and caring sister dynamic from the beginning, rather than the sisters starting with some amount of bickering and resentment and having to grow from it. Plus, it would be hard to stay mad at Juliette in kitten form.
The film’s digital release includes both an English dub and the original French version of the film. While the cast doesn’t have any major names, the dub is quite well done, and the actors in question deserve more recognition for their efforts in making a dub that keeps the film just as alive as it sounds in its original French. Both Tallula Dinsmoore (Carmen) and Élia St-Pierre (Juliette) do an exceptional job of keeping the film’s youthful energy alive, with some memorable quotes. “You don’t marry off children!” doesn’t seem like a mantra that would be often reminded, and yet it’s been spat at more than one fantasy villain.
If there’s one area to gripe about, it’s about how little of a chance the film has been given in the US. After a two-day theatrical run, GKIDS has only announced a digital release for the film, and their focus on promoting Look Back and Dan Da Dan has largely made the film go unnoticed, except by largely dazzled critics. While the film certainly has adult appeal, the simple story and visual treats are enough for the kids in the audience as well. It would be a shame to see it go buried in a sea of streaming titles without even a Blu-ray release.
Overall, Sirocco and the Kingdom of Winds is a light-hearted, simple story that makes itself into something magical in its exceptional animation and strong sense of familial bonds. The Kingdom of Winds certainly has potential for future stories, as this film only begins to unpack the secrets of Sirocco, or the possibilities if Agnès herself were to enter. As Selma says, “Adventure is like riding a bike. You never forget.”
Sirocco and the Kingdom of Winds is available for digital rental or purchase via various retailers.
