Departing from the 3D animation he contributed to at Pixar (“WALL-E,” “Up”) and wielded for his French co-directorial ventures (a pair of “Astérix” films), Louis Clichy’s first solo feature is an alluring, hand-painted memory. Drawing from his upbringing in France’s agricultural Beauce region, and from his experience with a corrective corset, “Iron Boy” (or “Le Corset”) is both visually dazzling and deeply personal, making for a potential breakout from this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The story follow 11-year-old Christophe, voiced by Gary Clichy — the director’s own son, making the production intimate from the outset. Christophe is the spry, imaginative middle child to a stern farmer dad in an economically depressed countryside. Without explanation, Christophe begins to lean sideways and fall over, nearly causing a tractor accident and landing him in a metal brace along his torso and up to his chin. The late 20th century is a world of machines, and Christophe is a part of it, whether he likes it or not. So, it’s somewhat fitting that his escape from mundanity, household pressures and his domineering father (Dimitri Colas) has a mechanical element too: the enormous Church organ at his parish, to which he takes a liking.
