Strings (DVD, 2005)

What a beautiful movie that just happens to be acted by marionettes. It is so easy to forget that what you are watching is puppets guided by strings and not living and breathing characters. What is so neat is that in the opening, you are shown the puppeteers working their magic, dispensing right away with the problem of how to deal with for the audience the obvious strings leading to the characters. The strings become part of the storyline, are in fact integral in every way to who and what these puppet people are. I expected to enjoy watching the puppets, they are brilliantly crafted and easy to look at. What I didn't expect was to get caught up in the storyline, feel for the characters, and care about what happened to them. I'd put this right up there with the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movie as far as fantasy fiction... it is that well done story-wise. You don't have to like puppets to like this movie. You just have to like being entertained by a good story.

Ok, the movie is set on a planet inhabited by living marionettes. It revolves around the death of the king and the prince's determination to get revenge. Along the way, the prince meets a young rebel (girl of course) and falls in love. The story is a little dark for kids and will probably give some a few nightmares and a permanent fear of marionettes. I can't recommend it for the very young. But, adults and teens with open minds will probably enjoy the movie.

It was a pretty good story. I wish I was that good with a puppet. I love they way they make everything look down to size. Like nothing actually looks like a 12 inch puppet, but rather normal sizes i guess you could put it that way.

when I first saww it, I loved it immediately, but I couldn't find it anywhere. still a beautifull story. :)