Nocturna Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Nocturna Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 5, 2014

That age old childhood angst producer, being afraid of the dark, provides most of the plot impetus in the charming if lightweight Nocturna. If the conflict here turns out to be as ephemeral as a nighttime “monster” that vanishes with the flick of a night light, there’s still charm to spare in this international production which was evidently first released in Spanish speaking markets (several years ago, in fact). Nocturna depicts the adventures of a little orphan boy named Tim, one of countless children who prefers not to sleep in total darkness, and who in fact has developed a rather strong attraction to his own “personal” star, a heavenly body named Adhara. Tim has crafted a special knob that allows him to open a window in the orphanage and pine after Adhara on a nightly basis, a moment of connection which reminds him of his late mother, who once told him this special star would look over him for the rest of his life. When Adhara’s mystical light seems to be tragically snuffed out one night, Tim sets out to investigate and is set on a whirlwind journey where he’s introduced to all manner of strange beings who populate an “after hours” world and take care of nighttime activities like mussing up sleepers’ hair or (heaven forfend) making them wet their beds.

Tim’s status as an outcast at the orphanage is made clear early on as the other kids are entranced by playing with balls or having pillow fights while Tim stares nostalgically at Adhara. When Tim’s typically childish cohorts steal his knob opener one night, he escapes to the roof of the orphanage, a place he’s already adorned with a huge and somewhat baroque looking chalk mural depicting Adhara and other celestial entities. It’s from this vantage point that Tim sees Adhara’s light suddenly disappear, something that sends the boy into a bit of panic, resulting in him slipping and falling, seemingly to his certain demise, off of the building.

An unseen hand seems to pluck Tim from his precarious interaction with gravity, a hand which turns out to belong to a strange kind of half human, half animal looking creature named the Cat Shepherd. In Nocturna’s whimsical universe, every sleeping child is supposedly watched over not by stars, but by cats, and Tim’s cat overseer, Tobermory, has itself been sleeping instead of making sure Tim visits slumberland without any issues. The Cat Shepherd is initially very upset with Tobermory, but when Tim’s repeated whining about various stars disappearing seems to indicate the kid will not be falling asleep anytime soon, the Cat Shepherd reluctantly agrees to take Tim to meet Mr. Moka, the “executive” in charge of all the habitues of nighttime activity.

It’s obviously no mere coincidence that Mr. Moka is a coffee fiend, and that provides Tim an entreé to meeting the reclusive ruler, something that surprises the Cat Shepherd, who simply assumed Tim would be rejected outright, thus forced to finally go to sleep like a good boy. Tim’s brief (and actually timed) interaction with Mr. Moka reveals that a mysterious figure known as the Starkeeper is in charge of heavenly lights, and that Tim needs to seek him out to answer the question of what is going on with the missing stars. Only after Tim leaves on his quest does the film drop the hint that something else—directly related to Tim—is going on.

The rest of Nocturna details Tim’s adventures with various nocturnal creatures, including whimsical beings like the “hair messers” or a little group of “musicians” who are responsible for whacking tree branches against windows. Mr. Moka’s hidden agenda is slowly uncovered, though truth be told, Nocturna is awfully light on both conflict and in fact even in proper development and ultimate resolution of what’s supposedly really going on.

Perhaps surprisingly, then, the film is nonetheless often wonderfully charming, at least given a recognition of its generally unambitious demeanor. Co-writers and co-directors Adrià García and Víctor Maldonado keep the rotund but lovable Tim moving through a series of small scale adventures that almost always have some element of whimsy to keep them afloat, if not overly compelling. The film’s design aesthetic is like a combination of fifties era Disney (think Sleeping Beauty with its odd angularity) and a kind of Tim Burton-esque feeling that may not quite approach his general level of creepiness.

Like some of the Studio Ghibli material (to cite just one example), Nocturna functions in its own hermetically sealed universe, one that moves at its own deliberate pace and one which eschews a traditional three act structure or even a traditionally nefarious villain. Still, Nocturna is so uniformly playful that for those wanting a sweet, unaffected little tale with some old school design flair, this film might be the cinematic equivalent of a sweet dream.

Nocturna Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Nocturna is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinedigm and GKids with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. When compared to other recent Cinedigm/GKids animated fare like Welcome to the Space Show, some may feel there's not much visual allure here, but for those willing to peek into the penumbras that regularly inhabit the frame in this almost entirely nighttime set piece, there's quite a bit of beauty to behold. A number of regular spectra are exploited, including lots of teal and a soft, amber effulgence that seems to evoke the twinkling ambience of late night. This is overall a somewhat soft looking presentation, but again that helps to maintain the somewhat dreamlike ambience. Line detail is strong and contrast is also very good, though the climax, featuring an embodiment of darkness, frequently doesn't offer much in the way of detail. There are once again some very minor issues with banding, but otherwise this is a beautiful, if somewhat smaller scale, animated offering.

Nocturna Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Nocturna features only an English dub in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The voicework, largely by British sounding performers, is quite winning, and there is good use of the surround channels with a glut of often very playful sound effects. Dialogue and the film's perky score by Nicolas Errèra both sound clear and clean. Fidelity is excellent, though dynamic range is somewhat limited until the film's relatively frenetic climax.

Nocturna Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of Nocturna (1080p; 9:02) features some decent interviews with the film's (very young) co-directors, among others.


• The Art of Nocturna (1080p; 5:53) is a brief but interesting look at elements of the animation.


• Trailer (1080p; 1:06)

Nocturna Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Nocturna is a very sweet natured "little" film, though some used to the whiz-bang fare that tends to dot American cineplexes may find the film too slow or uninvolving. Tim is a remarkably winning character, and younger kids especially will certainly understand his loneliness and fear of the dark. Charmingly animated in a deliberately old fashioned way, Nocturna may not be incredibly ambitious, but it's often quite stylish and enjoyable. Technical merits are very strong, and Nocturna comes Recommended.