The Red Turtle



The Red Turtle (Japanese レッドタートル ある島の物語)is a 2016 film directed by Michael Dudok de Wit, a collaboration between several European production companies including Why Not Productions and Wild Bunch, and the Japanese Studio Ghibli. It is Ghibli's first film after the restructuring of their animation department brought about by the retirement of Hayao Miyazaki. Only a small group of Ghibli animators worked on the film. It is Isao Takahata's last role in film-making before his death in 2018. Takahata served as a producer.

In the midst of an intense storm, a man washed up on the island. As is the case with any self respecting island survival story, the man got to work, scavenging nearby resources for survival and shelter. The man establishes himself, and cuts down bamboo shoots to make a boat. He sets the boat on the ocean, and, armed with supplies, prepares to leave the island.

Problem. There is a red turtle.

You see, this red turtle really does not want the man to leave the island, for the creature constantly breaks the man's boat. Just as he thought he was about to leave, the turtle comes, and wrecks the boat, forcing the man to swim back. Why doesn't the turtle want the man to leave? Well, it turns out the turtle, being solitary on the island for many years, simply yearns for companionship. The creature saw the man, and realised this is a perfect opportunity to pull a Humanity Ensues and transform into a woman. The rest of the film follows the journey of these two as they grow closer, explore the island, have kids, and grow old.


 * Action Prologue: The film begins in the middle of a storm, with towering waves, thundering rain, and a man desperately clinging on anything that floats for his life, trying not to get taken down the waves. The rest of the film is calm and subdued, with slow music and vast scenes.
 * Border Patrol: The red turtle serves as this, preventing the man from leaving the island.
 * Dashed Plotline: The film only focuses on the important moments in the man's life. Near the beginning, there aren't many Time Skips, and the skips are short in duration. After the turtle turns into a girl, and the two have kids, skips become more frequent, focusing only on the important scenes. This is done for pragmatic reasons: everyone wants to see how a family would survive a tsunami, as well as how a man would survive being beached. No one wants to see a family forage and eat breakfast for the 817th time.
 * Disney Death: It seems like the red turtle is about to die, being beached, and left alone for days. The she magically comes back to life and Humanity Ensues.
 * Dream Sequence: Many of these occur in the first half, with the man dreaming about luxuries in places other than a lonely island, as well as hopes of rescue, or any sign of human civilization such as an orchestra playing.
 * Ghibli Hills: Covers the entire island where the man is shipwrecked.
 * Hair Contrast Duo: The turtle turns into a woman whose much longer, red hair contrasts the man's short black hair. This reflects the fact that they are, in fact, two different species.
 * Humanity Ensues: The turtle transforms into a woman after the creature is flipped over and repeatedly kicked. The man has a dream about the turtle floating away into the sky. The next day, there is a red haired woman in the turtle's shell. The two even have kids!
 * International Co-production: Between Japan and several European companies.
 * Logo Joke: Studio Ghibli's Vanity Plate with the Totoro is backdropped against a red background, instead of the usual blue. This may have something to do with the phrase red appearing in the title.
 * Magic Realism: The film is filled with Slice of Life elements, and is mostly mundane, except for a giant turtle which can turn into a girl.
 * No Name Given: Due to there being no dialogue in the film, no one gets any names. Even if they have a name, the film doesn't tell audiences.
 * Opposite Gender Protagonists: The unnamed man and titular red turtle. The man is washed up on the deserted island the turtle resides in. The turtle, wishing for companionship, prevents the man from leaving, destroying his bamboo raft when he tries to get out. Insistent on leaving the island, the man flips over the turtle and leaves her beached. After Humanity Ensues with the turtle, the man starts looking after the turtle — well, girl — and becomes genuinely nice towards her. They even have kids, and survive on the island as a family, growing old.
 * Scenery Porn: There are many shots which focus on the nearby bamboo forest, the sea, or the empty sky. They are crafted with less detail than Ghibli's other films, in a much more simplistic style.
 * Secondary Character Title: The unnamed man stranded on the island is the main character, but the red turtle is in the title.
 * Silence Is Golden: The only dialogue in the entire film are some grunts and yells from a single man. There are no conversations, no screaming, no Big No yells, no nothing.