With Cameras Rolling, We See the Life of a Shell

Marcel (Jenny Slate) in 
"Marcel the Shell with Shoes On"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

In 2010, Dean Fleischer Camp released a four-minute short film called “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” which was a mockumentary about a titular shell (voiced by Jenny Slate) living in a house and talking about ways on how he gets by from day to day.  Followed by two additional shorts in 2011 and 2014, Marcel proved to be an endearing character who offered a humorous and occasionally poignant view of the world.

Camp, in his feature directorial debut, brings his creation to the big screen in a movie of the same name, a film that isn’t anything short of adorable, humorous, and moving.

While living in an Airbnb, amateur filmmaker Dean (Camp) discovers Marcel and his grandmother, Nanna Connie (Isabella Rossellini) and decides to film them as they go about their lives.  When Marcel decides to find out where his family went after the original homeowners left, he’ll do whatever he can to reunite with his loved ones.

Just as Slate did in the short films, the voice that she provides for Marcel really emphasizes the innocence of someone finding out the wonders of the world, while also going about his household challenges with a can-do spirit that allows him to always come out on top of his goals.  There’s a lovingness that Slate gives to Marcel’s voice that welcomes you into his life, eliciting a warmth that pervades throughout the movie as you’re brought along on his special journey.

Rossellini delivers every bit as much heart as Slate.  With a sweet, wise, and grandmotherly voice, she provides a comforting presence as she encourages Marcel to follow his dreams.  Nanna Connie doesn’t appear and is never mentioned in the shorts, so having her here is a great addition to Marcel’s world.  There’s a tenderness to Nanna Connie that Rossellini uses to bring out the hopefulness that Marcel needs when he begins to doubt himself, and it’s beautiful, beautiful work.

Despite this movie being based YouTube shorts, the screenplay by Camp, Slate, and Nick Paley is able to sustain its running time.  At just 90 minutes, the movie is the perfect length and never feels like it’s stretching for material to fill a feature-length film.  We’re given a view into the world through the eyes of Marcel and Nanna Connie, seeing how they take care of themselves and look out for each other from day to day.  Between that and poignant details about Marcel’s past, we’re given the emotional backdrop that we need in order to become absorbed in Marcel’s search for his family.  Every scene manages to show us Marcel’s insightfulness and ingenuity, and even though we think we know this character through the short films, the screenplay adds a few more layers to Marcel that builds a bigger character to fill up the expansion of the source material.

The gorgeous cinematography from Bianca Cline makes something magical out of an ordinary house, particularly when we get sunlit rooms that give the film a wondrous feeling as Marcel muses about the world.  Whether it’s through handheld camerawork or a stoic camera, there’s a beauty to how Cline frames Marcel and Nanna Connie against the bigness of their environment, allowing us to experience the distinctive way in which they inhabit said environment.

Although the movie has a great deal of cuteness to it, it doesn’t get bogged down by that.  Rather, Camp gives the film an occasionally deep and poignant tone that grasps how Marcel deals with the world and his place in it.  You get a sense of this right in the opening scene, where you hear the gorgeous and ethereal score by Richard Vreeland, who’s known more by his stage name, Disasterpeace.  It’s a score that brings you into a world that’s familiar to a human, but at the same time, helps to capture the emotion of what it might be like to experience the wonder of this world through the perspective of Marcel.

While using a bigger canvas, Camp has the chance to work with visual effects that are more polished.  He utilizes them in the best way that he can, taking advantage of the cinematic possibilities to explore the spaces that Marcel inhabits.  

Despite this film being documentary-styled, there are moments where the movie feels like a narrative feature.  However, Camp’s able to blend these two styles seamlessly because of how well scenes from both of these techniques absorb you in the intimate nature of the story and accomplish in making you feel close to the characters.

If you put a shell to your ear, it’s as if you can hear the ocean.  With Marcel, you hear the world.

Grade: A