Azur & Asmar
Part of Saturday's Picture Show
- Director: Michel Ocelot
Animation. France, 2006/2008. Rated PG. 99 minutes.
Watch the trailer!
You can watch the trailer for Azur & Asmar on this page below.
Synopsis for Azur & Asmar: Set in the Middle Ages, Azur and Asmar is the story of two boys raised as brothers. Blonde, blue-eyed, white skinned Azur and black-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned Asmar are lovingly cared for by Asmar's gentle mother, who tells them magical stories of her faraway homeland and of beautiful, imprisoned Fairy Djinn waiting to be set free. Time passes, and one day Azur's father, the master of the house, provokes a brutal separation. Azur is sent away to study, while Asmar and his mother are driven out, homeless and penniless.
Years later, as a young adult, Azur remains haunted by memories of the sunny land of his nanny, and sets sail south across the high seas to find the country of his dreams. Arriving as an immigrant in a strange land, Azur is rejected by everyone he meets on account of his "unlucky" blue eyes, until finally he resolves never to open those eyes again. The once-beautiful child clad in gold is reduced to a blind beggar. Yet, blind though he is, little by little and step by step, he discovers a beautiful and mysterious country. Meanwhile, back in her homeland, Azur's nanny has become a wealthy merchant and Asmar has grown into a dashing horseman. Reunited but now as adversaries, the two brothers set off on a dangerous quest to find and free the Fairy of the Djinns.
"Impossibly gorgeous!" "The year's most beautiful animated film!"
- Andrew O'Hehir, Salon
"Is it too early to announce the most beautiful film of 2009? It's hard to imagine a more
transporting cinematic experience coming our way than Azur & Asmar. Any aficionado
of animation - of vibrantly realized storytelling in any genre - will be seduced by a wealth
of sights and sounds. In any given year, a filmgoer consumes a lot of animated porridge.
And then, occasionally, along comes a delicacy on the order of Azur & Asmar... it's a feast!"
- Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
"Dazzling! A story at once whimsical and epic. It is rife with storybook themes and offers
an inspiring vision of harmony between different cultures, different people. Eye-popping
and elegant, it's a richly satisfying affair!"
- Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
"Michel Ocelot's animated masterpiece Azur & Asmar is a symphony of brilliant colors
- heavily influenced by classic Islamic art - in which cutouts move with the poetry of Balinese
puppets. It's the tale of estranged childhood friends (one English and blond, one Arab and dark)
who edgily join forces to rescue a fairy princess - and their journey rekindles the wonder of
seeing your very first rainbow."
- David Edelstein, New York Magazine
"Parents who don't have a Netflix subscription or a particularly good art house nearby might
come to the conclusion that animated films don't offer a lot of variety. Azur & Asmar is
something different, part of a growing number of foreign-made quality animated films that
your family will have to hunt to find, but are worth the effort. It's unlike any CGI film that you've
seen. A unique effort that art film crowds and families will both be able to appreciate!"
- Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle