Jean-François Laguionie’s GWEN AND THE BOOK OF SAND is maybe a little too strange to fully understand, but its juxtapositions and style leave help it get so much more from its 67 minutes than a lot of full-length features can manage. A young girl named Gwen joins a tribe of desert nomads in a world littered with gigantic, recognizably earth-bound objects. Gwen falls in love with Nokmoon, a boy whose strange powers get him abducted by the ethereal creature that prowls the dunes by night. Gwen and Rosaline, the tribe’s matriarch, set out across the uncharted wastes to bring back the young boy.

In this episode — our last on the Trylon’s series on ‘80s animated sci-fi/fantasy, we gush over gouache, ponder the meaning of finding meaning in a story as abstruse as this one, and play a game where we try to guess what game Cody’s even trying to get us to play.

Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:

Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/
@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot
@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaid
ISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2
Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisis

References:

“Episode Ten: Gwen and the Book of Sand/Signals/In the Dust of the Stars” from the Official Deaf Crocodile Podcast
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#TheArtofInsurgence80sAnimatedSciFantasy #DCP

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Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro by Pierre Alrand from the GWEN AND THE BOOK OF SAND soundtrack.

Timestamps

0:00 - Episode 371: GWEN AND THE BOOK OF SAND (1985)

2:27 - Aaron's sunglasses

6:32 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary

9:56 - A truly unique work of animation

25:41 - The departure for the city

37:39 - Gwen and Rosalie

43:16 - Post-consumerism, identity, masking, etc.

57:39 - Nokmoon’s dreams

1:00:54 - The interpolation of live-action and animation styles

1:09:37 - The best images

1:17:47 - The Junk Drawer

1:21:40 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1985

1:27:50 - Cody’s Noteys: Gwen’s Picnic (we try to guess the rules of the game Cody makes us play)