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I Am Frankelda, an ambitious new-generation example of stop-motion musical animation, premiered on Netflix on Friday, June 12. A prequel to the series Frankelda’s Book of Spooks, which reached audiences in Latin America, the film leads viewers along the edge of a fantastical reality, holding up a mirror to certain social and personal themes. The director’s chair is occupied by the Ambriz Brothers. Mentored during production by Guillermo del Toro — known for films such as Pan’s Labyrinth and Frankenstein — the directors promise viewers of all ages a unique experience with I Am Frankelda.
At the center of the film is a young girl named Francisca, living in 19th-century Mexico. Having lost her mother at an early age, she inherited her love of art from her. Growing up making fictional stories and drawings, Francisca is constantly looked down upon by those around her. First she is excluded by her friends, then her dreams are belittled by her grandmother. Once she comes of age she wants to publish her work, but the publishing house owner ignores her talents. In the face of all these hardships, the only thing that soothes her is the fantastical universes and fictional characters she creates.
One day the prince of Topus Terrentus — one of the universes she created — comes to the real world and asks Francisca for help saving his kingdom. Unaware all this time that the universe she created is real, Francisca agrees to travel to Topus Terrentus as a ghost writer. Now named Frankelda, our character’s purpose there is to produce works that make people see nightmares which feed their fears. For nightmares are bound to the existence of her universe — to the balance between the real world and the fantastical.
Stop-Motion and a Gothic Visual Composition
I Am Frankelda‘s directors, Arturo and Roy Ambriz, are also the founders of the Mexico-based stop-motion animation studio Cinema Fantasma. Channeling their deep fascination with stop-motion into production at this studio, the directors trace that interest back to their childhood. The Ambriz Brothers note that since they were young they were drawn to toys rather than video games and always found physical objects compelling. So when they turned to filmmaking, stop-motion seems a natural choice in terms of making puppets, building sets, lighting them and creating characters physically.
Stop-motion is one of the most important building blocks of I Am Frankelda‘s detailed and equally grotesque atmosphere. Most of the characters are hand-stitched and hand-painted. From start to finish, I Am Frankelda — where physical labor is felt intensely alongside digital work — does not offer viewers a fake reality in this respect. On the contrary, it shows us that fictional aesthetics are the product of human work, which makes the animation as realistic as possible. The traces of this production process are so evident that, looking closely at the characters, you can even see the brushstrokes. Each sequence almost recalls a Renaissance painting; in fact, the density of detail can make it hard to focus on the flow of the story. Yet this does not affect the film negatively — rather, it offers the audience something they have not experienced before.
In an interview, the Ambriz Brothers note that their cinematic style — and therefore the film — is heavily influenced by Gustave Doré‘s engravings. They also acknowledge that Tim Burton‘s films, especially The Nightmare Before Christmas, were a major source of inspiration. These remarks help us understand the starting point of the gothic-fantastical atmosphere the film creates. I Am Frankelda‘s unique characters — the nightmare writer in a spider’s body, or the owl-like prince — and the unusual details of the nightmare universe take the viewer into a familiar gothic world while telling a completely different story.
On the Creative Power of Imagination
I Am Frankelda fundamentally focuses on the parallelism between the universe of imagination and the real world. Our protagonist is unaware of the reality she shapes, yet the universe she creates clearly shapes her own life as well. While Francisca faces hardships and constraints in the real world, an underground kingdom is collapsing. At this point the film shows us the “invisible known.” Although literature, or art in general, is a human product, without the imagination that brings art into being the human being is nothing. A person’s sense of their own existence and the creation of a subjective reality emerge from listening to the voice of their soul. This is how we come to understand the Ambriz Brothers‘ approach to the animation genre. For them, however unlike the real world the created thing may be, belonging to a human grants it a kind of reality. And the directors make this concrete by creating a universe for imagination — specifically, for nightmares.
Topus Terrentus — the Nightmare Universe — owes its existence to the nightmares that frighten people. For people’s world of imagination sustains its continuity. The same is true for Francisca the writer. In a scene toward the end of the film, she tells the Prince, “Thanks to you, I came to know myself.” This beautifully captures the relationship between the fantastical and the real world. The directors show that art, beyond telling a story, is necessary for a person to sustain their life. While the difficulties Frankelda faces as a female writer push her into confusion and self-questioning, what she writes points to a way out that lets her find herself.
Another striking theme in the film is people’s flight from their fears and, more broadly, from their own essence. This becomes even more concrete when we look at what Francisca experiences in the real world. Her grandmother speaks of the worthlessness of imagination, while the publisher says art should only reflect reality. This kind of opposition can still be prominent today, but it is absolutely a mistaken point of view. The harshness of the real world is a fact everyone is already aware of. But fleeing from fears — and from feelings in general — is what turns that fact into something destructive. The Ambriz Brothers show that turning fear into art is a kind of healing.
A Critique of Reality and Biographical Elements
Director Arturo Ambriz states in an interview that during the screenwriting process they faced the very kind of hardship Frankelda experiences. Many production companies told them to give up on their dreams and that they would fail, and they completed the film without receiving even half of the required budget. Undaunted in the face of these difficulties, the brothers said they felt just like the Prince trying to save his kingdom.
I Am Frankelda, with all these aspects, also carries a biographical narrative. The difficulties Frankelda faces — especially as a female writer — and her humiliation by the publishing house are situations we encounter in the real world too. Her never giving up and recognizing the importance of her writing is full of hope. In this regard, the film conveys a very valuable message: no matter what anyone says, we must not stray from the path we know, and we must never abandon our passion to create.
Holding up a mirror to the reality of the publishing system and social pressures, I Am Frankelda also offers a political critique of the concepts of authority and power. Through the character Procustes, it criticizes a human condition in which, rather than accepting one’s own inadequacies, one tries to crush others’ creativity and exploit it. This part of the story reflects how, in the real world, people acquire common enemies to hide their failures and imitate the qualities those others possess.
With the action Procustes sets in motion, we are also reminded that the desire for power can bring destructive consequences. Yet looking at the film as a whole, we conclude that creative, original talent will prevail. With all these aspects, I Am Frankelda — despite being a fantastical animation — manages to hold up an enormous mirror to reality. Through Frankelda’s story, the Ambriz Brothers offer each viewer the hope of confronting their own dark reality and transforming that darkness into a fairy tale.
To read more articles by Hazal Ocak, click here.
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