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It’s not the easiest thing to research a movie titled Turtles without encountering the Teenage Mutant Ninjas Turtles, and one thinks the title might have been reconsidered given all the confusion.
The actual movie playing at the Center for Contemporary Arts this week and written/directed by filmmaker David Lambert (Amal), however, is a beautiful treatise on the evolution of human emotion as a couple ages together. Turtles explores the nature of mature relationships and the bittersweet dynamic of loving and accepting love.
Henri and Thom (Dave Johns and Olivier Gourmet) have cohabitated in an apartment for 35 years peacefully, but Henri’s retirement causes him to rethink his life choices. Chaos ensues as Thom desperately attempts to rekindle their flame and save the marriage, even if it means asking for a divorce.
An over-furnished small apartment, brimming with tables, chairs, footstools, Bric-a-brac, tchotchkes and a large terrarium for two pet turtles—Topsy and Turvy—becomes an apt analogy for the emotional bondage entwining the couple. Looming close-ups of Thom as an over attendant partner are effective in translating Henri’s feelings of suffocation and crisis of identity. The loss of love and possibly of his marriage is evoked as we witness Thom sell his possessions, wedding ring included, at the local flea market.
Turtles charms and entertains while it slightly saddens. In his fourth feature film, Lambert offers up a queer and Brussels-sited story posing a universal question: can love survive across the transitions and duration of a long life? Though not a typical divorce movie, the discrepancies between emotional involvement and economic necessity are on full display while the cinematography is immersive and moving. Turtles is an entertaining and interesting visit to the theater—there are even a few ninja worthy moments. Melodrama rears its ugly head at the conclusion, but the script and actors earn it. (Jesse Colvin)
8
+Cinematography; Relatable
-Clumsy ending (but still worth it)
Turtles
Directed by Lambert
With Johns and Olivier
Center for Contemporary Arts, NR, 83 min.
