Charlotte Parent Guide

“What matters isn’t whether life loves us but whether we love life.” Given to Charlotte Salomon in her late teens, this advice becomes a touchstone for her life. As the rise of Nazism forces the Jewish artist to flee to France, Charlotte holds on to her love of life and vows to record the entire story of her family in paint. With over 1000 works completed in gouache in a few short years, Charlotte achieves her goal, leaving art lovers with an engrossing treasury of fiercely brilliant, vibrantly colored masterpieces.

This animated film doesn’t gloss over the real-life trials and tragedies that haunt Charlotte and shadow her work. Her mother’s death during her childhood is a lasting grief, her grandfather is a difficult and demanding man, and the anti-Semitism of the Nazi regime thwarts her artistic education. Mental illness and suicide pervade her extended family and are yet an additional burden for the young woman to carry. Remarkably, despite the grimness that surrounds her, her work endures as a triumphant witness to the power of her humanity, vision, and talent.

Charlotte contains strong themes of persistence and dedication and offers dazzling animations of art in progress. However, it is definitely not a suitable movie for children, coming in at the intersection of the PG-13 and Restricted ratings. There is plenty of violence, including scenes of Nazis attacking and herding Jews at gunpoint and an extended sequence of the thuggish bruality of Kristallnacht. Suicide is also a motif in the story, with past tragedies recounted and a character who tries to kill herself, eventually succeeding in a later attempt. Finally, the plot features a murder – not something normally found in family-friendly cinema. I am unwilling to provide a spoiler, but what I can say is that the script’s sanitization of past issues removes the context from the murder, making it less comprehensible than it would be if the story were told more fully.

The movie also surprises – and not in a good way – with its sexual content. There are two scenes featuring nude adults wrapped around each other. Breasts and genitals are not visible, but the couples are clearly involved in sexual activity. Again, this isn’t suitable for young viewers.

Content issues aside, Charlotte stands out thanks to its unique production design. The voice cast are excellent, imbuing characters with personalities that don’t easily come through the rather flat animation. The animation is spotty: it shines while showing paintings in process and in some beautiful backgrounds. It’s often stiff and jerky with figures, which can distract from the story. Using animation for Charlotte’s life story is a brilliant idea; I only wish the animation resembled her paintings more closely. I would have liked to see a gouache look to the film and I think it would benefit from some slightly fantastical touches. The latter would move away from the Saturday morning cartoon stiffness that gets in the way of this incredible real-life story of a brilliant life snuffed out by hate.