Film commentary: Mirage
The hero of this adventure is a little Inuit boy. A great opportunity to introduce students to these indigenous peoples, nomadic hunters from the Arctic regions of North America.A particularly original script, moving characters. An adventure film full of magic and enchantment.
Among the very beautiful short films for children aged 3 and upwards in our selection.
Mirage is a short adventure film that draws on the imagination of classic explorer stories, with its unexplored lands, its hunters of natural riches and its mysterious remains of vanished civilisations, altars and magic keys. But its originality lies in the exploitation of the idea of antipodes. The place that the young Arctic inhabitant discovers communicates with a point in the opposite hemisphere: a tiny island in the Pacific.
As usual, our fortuitous explorer is going to have to grapple with forces (natural? magical?) that are beyond him. After a series of acrobatics marked by inversions (light/darkness, gravity pulling towards the sky, characters dragged into the air or crossing the "mirror" of the ice sheet that maintains the border between the two points), everything comes to a halt with the dawn and the spectacular emptying of a part of the tropical waters above the ice pack.
The film sows clues throughout its adventures, but it is only at the very end, during the credits, that the name of this adventure (the famous Bermuda Triangle) is suggested, in the form of a hanging question: where is there any mystery and unknown left on our Earth?
Interview with the co-director
Discover the dreamlike world of Dana TerraceInterview with the co-director
Discover the dreamlike world of Iker MaidaganQuestioning the film: Mirage
Understand the story, the theme, express your sensibility and exercise your critical thinking skills.If understanding the fact that in the film two distant places on Earth are connected by a passage is not too much of a problem, you can dwell on the "logic" of this passage: its meaning, the physical effects linked to it, as well as the geographical particularity of the two places.
Part of the discussion should revolve around an explanation of the myth of the Bermuda Triangle, of which few children have certainly heard. The history of the development of this modern legend can be recalled: the creation of a journalistic mystery between the 1950s and 1960s, the scientific interrogations and paranormal explanations in the following decade, the scientific disinterest and the passage to the rank of narrative argument in adventure fictions.
Going further, we could reflect on the context of the disappearance of the idea of terra incognita, by briefly addressing the history of the exploration of the Earth.
Finally, another axis of discussion could be ecological: taken as a metaphor, the idea of two places on Earth communicating can introduce the idea of interdependence between biotopes and the biosphere (on a global scale). The frozen lake is surrounded by waste from all eras.
1 What is special about the place where the boy arrives at the beginning?
It is made up of the remains of vehicles from very different places and eras.
2 Can we locate the two places on Earth linked by the passage?By what clues?
The North Pole (ice floe, Eskimo), the South Pacific Ocean (island with tropical vegetation, shells).
3 In which direction does the passage function?
From the Pacific Ocean to the ice floe.
4 How can you explain that the water can flow upwards?
It flows in the direction of the passage.The passage is magical, it reverses the physical conditions.
5 How is the passage finally closed?
Has the Southern Ocean emptied completely? Did the shell hunters' boat close the hole? Diddawn stop the magic of the passage?
6 What is the role of the images in the end credits?
They present clues to interpret the passage as the Bermuda Triangle.They show elements of the legend.
7 What is the Bermuda Triangle?
A place off the coast of the Bermuda archipelago (Caribbean) where ships and planes were thought to disappear regularly and for which many more or less scientific explanations have been devised, to the point of forging a modern legend.
8 What means do we have today to find out if places like the one in the film exist?
We know practically the whole of the globe, through satellite or aerial observation and exploration expeditions.
9 After the adventure described in the film, what is the consequence for the patch of ice? and for the islet in the Pacific?
The patch of ice has become like a dustbin of vehicles and has dried up (the ice has been replaced by dust.We don't know about the ocean islet, but we can imagine that it has also dried up.
Download the PDF of the film's educational activities
Created with the support of the Ministry of Education and the CNC.Family viewing of the film, educational activities with parents at home and with teachers in class.
Antipodes (Questioning the world) (Cycle 2 and 3)
Educational activities proposed by Bruno Pellier based on the film Mirage.
Deserts (Questioning the world) (Cycle 2 and 3)
Educational activities proposed by Bruno Pellier based on the film Mirage.
Discover other educational sheets created with the support of the Ministry of Education and the CNC...
Theme
DreamGenre and keywords
Narrative, mirage, magic, friendship, animals, fish, miraculous fishing.Recommended age
Film for children from 3 years.Parental control. Film recommended by parents.
Duration
9 min 19 s.Title
MirageDirection
Dana TerraceIker Maidagan
Music
Alexander ReumeursJorrit Kleijnen
Production
School of Visual Artsin 2013
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