Deathtrap

19987 min 3 secFilm: Animation, Children's film, Fiction

Direction: Diane Chartrand

Production: Thérèse Descary

Script: Diane Chartrand

A young man has lost his will to live. He feels trapped, like a mouse in a cage endlessly spinning his wheel. His prison is an internal one. Outdoors, a fox slips through the thickets, symbol of a freedom which eludes the young man. Unable to stand his own reflection in the mirror, he decides to end his life. He writes a suicide note, then slides it into a bag with things he is leaving to those close to him. He makes a final visit to his parents, giving them his caged mouse. He gives a girlfriend a sketch-book, in which he has drawn himself in the process of disappearing. A musician friend inherits his harmonica, another a house plant. One by one, the young man closes all the doors to his heart before then plunging into the sea. With his body lying inert at the bottom of the sea, his spirit moves towards the great beyond only to discover that his internal prison has followed him into death. Realizing that suicide is a trap, he decides to return to life to reopen the doors that formed this prison. His body resurfaces... Parents and friends are there to grab the hand he stretches out of the water. An animated film without words for twelve to seventeen year olds.

Other versions


Subject categories


  • Children and Youth > Adolescent Social BehaviourChildren's Rights
  • Law and Crime > Children's Rights
  • Psychology and Psychiatry > Suicide
  • Arts Education > Drama
  • Ethics and Religious Culture > Ethical Values

Credits


director
Diane Chartrand
script
Diane Chartrand
animation
Diane Chartrand
producer
Thérèse Descary
editing
Suzanne Allard
music
Normand Roger
Denis L. Chartrand

Awards


  • Giffoni Film Festival Award - for the Rights from the Heart Series (3 parts) for all-round constant creative achievement and artistic integrity in the cinemaFilm Festival