REVIEW - WRINKLES (IGNACIO FERRERAS)

Alzheimer's attacks after a lifetime of gain, with the punishment of loss. The body has been slowly deteriorating for some time already, its functions afflicted by growing frailty, and now the one organ that has thrived through the years - the brain - starts following suit, its burgeoning memory bank depleting in its prime. After decades spent staring down the prospect of ageing, decades in which we have been schooled in the process of loss, has life prepared us for this process? In one's youth, this possibility is frightening, its consequences devastating, its depiction harrowing to those who have experience coping with faltering minds. Ignacio Ferreras is gracious to colour his film with comedic shades, wry and mirthful, delicate but not too dainty. His sweet touch suggests that he knows what his audience craves, a perceptiveness that is evident in how he designs his animated images, and in how he paces his edit. Wrinkles is a strikingly contemplative film, and Ferreras demonstrates the power of implication and suggestion in confronting us with the trauma of mental illness in old age without rubbing our noses in it. There's little value in doing that in animation, not least when he's got such a feather-light tone to maintain. Though his humanistic tendencies shine through the brightest, in piquant characterisations just the right side of quaint, Ferreras also displays an artist's knack for stylistic flourishes (the visual perspective shift on the road in a late scene is a masterful move) and a pragmatist's understanding of how to apply these with sensitivity. His use of flashbacks is particularly evocative, including a heart-wrenching detour into the origins of an elderly couple's relationship. And that's what's so affecting about Wrinkles. Coping with Alzheimer's must be immensely distressing for those who suffer from the condition. But how would we know? Coping with Alzheimer's in a loved one can be unbearably hard, those consequences indeed devastating, and in its depiction of the personal relationships of those who do suffer from it, Wrinkles is certainly harrowing. Yet, it's also beautiful, charming and uplifting.