A BOAT IN THE GARDEN

BUILDING A BOAT IN THE GARDEN — BUT WHAT TO DO WITH IT?

When ele­ven-year-old François hears ham­me­ring in his gar­den one after­noon, he is ama­zed: his fos­ter father Pierre is buil­ding a boat. But not just any boat, becau­se François’ father is try­ing to rea­li­ze his own lifel­ong dreams by buil­ding a repli­ca of the “Spray” of cir­cum­na­vi­ga­tor Joshua Slocum. As the years pass and both François’ deve­lo­p­ment and the con­s­truc­tion of the boat pro­gress, the boy reli­ves the adven­tures of the old Slocum in his dreams. He cros­ses the Strait of Magellan, bra­ves the rough seas and seeks the affec­tion of the equal­ly rough Pierre. The ani­ma­ted film tells the sto­ry of the ado­le­s­cent François and his par­ents in 1950s France in a thoughtful and calm man­ner, skillful­ly cap­tu­ring a blissful fee­ling some­whe­re bet­ween melan­cho­ly and romance.