Directed by Peter Budinský, Journey to Yourland is a surprising yet imperfect adventurous fairy tale, presented at the 34th Trieste Film Festival.
Synopsis:
Riki, a 10 year old boy, runs away from home, following a mysterious emergency signal sent by a shiny stone. The strange artefact seems to have a mind of its own and it takes Riki to the breathtaking parallel world of “Yourland” where wonderful machines roam golden deserts, monkeys and ravens talk and science peacefully coexists with nature.
Review:
Previously presented at Sarajevo Film Festival 2022 or Zurich Film Festival 2022 among others, Journey to Yourland (Tvojazem) is the first feature length animation for its director and writer Peter Budinský. The story focuses on Riki – a young boy with a passion for mystery and a weak heart. Riki and his mom are moving to a new home and Riki is desperate to get in touch with his father who he hopes might be able to stop the move. He grows distrustful towards his mum because of her reluctance to explain where dad is and why they had to leave their home.
Riki’s sense of intrigue is tickled when he observes an SOS signal from an apartment in the building across from them. When his mum doesn’t take him seriously, he tries to contact dad. As a police officer he will be able to help Riki solve the mystery. But when his father doesn’t answer either, Riki grows resentful. “I hate you,” he informs his dad. And instead of waiting for the grownups for help (they always tell him he needs to wait until he is older to understand things anyway), Riki sets off to get to the bottom of things.
Bottom becomes quite literal as a shiny gem that was sending off the SOS signal lodges itself in Riki’s chest and transports him into a parallel reality called Yourland. In Yourland robots are life-sized, monkeys can talk, ravens are sinister and deadly and the gem that is hiding in Riki’s chest needs to be taken to its nesting place to save Yourland. Luckily, he encounters a charming young girl Emma (a character reminiscent of actress Emma Stone) who forces Riki to learn to trust others once again.
Although a Slovak feature, at Trieste Film Festival Journey to Yourland was shown with English dubbing. Unfortunately, this distanced it from a distinctive sense of place and highlighted the familiar quality of the storylines told. The beginning of the movie shared the theme and feel of Inside Out in which a thriving girl is transported from her happy place to unfamiliar and scary surroundings. The depiction of Riki’s mum is particularly questionable in Journey to Yourland since she is eerily similar to the single mothers of Homescapes – a simple online puzzle game with a disturbing portrayal of women.
The fantasy middle hoped to entertain the young viewer with robots and monkeys and puffy deus ex machinas – little furry or shiny balls that appeared just at the right time to help the characters complete their mission. And truth be told, children were either silent or whispered excitedly during the film which proves that Journey to Yourland spoke to its intended audience well. As an adult viewer I enjoyed the ideas it introduced, but was unconvinced by the execution. In order to deliver the disarming ending that it had planned, Journey to Yourland needed either more impressive imagery or more room to breathe. Perhaps both.
Regardless, the ending is probably what Journey to Yourland stands out with the most. Riki begins to understand how frustrations and disappointments can lead to rage and aggression and that knowledge helps him save Yourland. This also allows him to show compassion towards his parents instead of just thinking about himself – the first step towards growing up himself. It is a very mature theme to tackle – recognising your emotions before they become toxic. And to weave an adventurous fairy tale around it is an impressive achievement indeed.
Film Fest Report is excited to team up with the Trieste Film Festival, as official media partner for the 34th edition of the festival.
