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Japan · 2020
1h 40m
Director Yusuke Hirota
Starring Masataka Kubota, Mana Ashida, Shinosuke Tatekawa, Eiko Koike
Genre Adventure, Animation, Drama, Fantasy
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Young Lubicchi lives in Chimney Town, a city where the smoke pollution is so thick that no one can see the sky. But Lubicchi has heard from his father that stars twinkle beyond the smoke—after befriending Poupelle the trashman, they decide to seek the stars out for themselves.
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The New York Times by Ben Kenigsberg
Trying to get a read on the film — while admiring its palette and off-kilter character details (Lubicchi has an odd vampire overbite) — keeps “Poupelle” fun for a while. But the film ultimately shies away from its most disturbing ideas, falling back on a comforting sentimentality.
As rich as the visuals can be at times, the music has it beat: Chimney Town may be a small-minded, smoke-choked industrial prison state for most, but to an optimistic loner like Lubicchi, it sounds like a symphony and glitters with possibility.
Austin Chronicle by Richard Whittaker
Ultimately, it’s an aspirational and inspirational tale of daring to reach for the stars even when authority figures tell you they don’t exist – and the value of having a friend who believes in you, even if they have an umbrella handle for a nose.
Los Angeles Times by Tracy Brown
Poupelle of Chimney Town manages to do something most people would tell you is impossible: Feel empathy for a pile of smelly trash. It’s a fitting feat for a film that encourages you to keep believing in your dreams even if everyone else belittles them or tells you you’re wrong.
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