Moving Pictures is a fun little historical graphic novel with a Canadian background I picked up on a whim at the Kennebecasis Public Library this week. It's written by a husband and wife team. And by fun, I mean fun in a plodding, ominous, can-you-solve-the-riddle sort of way.
Set during the Second World War, Ila is a Canadian curator in France who has been assigned to label the value and importance of works of art so that they can be "catalogued" (i.e. stolen) by the Third Reich. A quiet, tense commentary on the nature of loss, betrayal, and war; the beauty of art becomes Ila's only self-granted permission to feel, in a time when feeling too much can lead only to heartache. We are left to solve the mysterious emotions and motivations between her and a high-ranking German official and their art-filled love affair.
Not recommended for a newcomer to graphic novels or those without a serious crush on art or historical fiction. For those who appreciate the 5 minutes and 2 seconds they get to spend with a favourite painting, it will haunt you.
