Mini-Review: No Dogs or Italians Allowed

One thing I am trying to do this year, it's not a resolution or anything, is to watch more foreign-language movies. I have watched a handful this year and recently watched one I just had to talk about.

"No Dogs or Italians Allowed" is a stop-motion animated movie about director Alain Ughetto's grandfather, who immigrated from Italy to France in the early 1900s.

First of all, this movie is gorgeous. The sets are meticulously crafted and detailed. Any single frame of this movie could be hung up in an art museum. The story is just as beautiful. It is told from Ughetto's grandmother's perspective. She talks directly to Ughetto, and it sets up quickly that this is her telling him the story. They lived in the Alps and moved to France for a chance at a better life, even though Italians were discriminated against in France at that time. It is a story of hardship, loss, and making a life in the face of overwhelming odds and bigotry.

The combination of the powerful story with the incredible animation makes this one of the easiest movies to recommend. It's also barely over an hour and three bucks to rent.

9/10

1hr. 10min.

No Dogs or Italians Allowed is available to rent on Amazon.