“In the forest without a name […] There is a place called the Undergrowth of Dreams, where a strange doctor works. In this far-off land, couscous, the Tasmanian devil, Koala and others consult Wallaby to shake off recurring nightmares. Helped by his faithful dingo, the marsupial medic goes on a hunt for bad dreams and always finds a cure. But when the thylacine comes before him and exposes his nightmare, “an empty and deaf thing, deep and still,” the doctor reflects. Thylacine does not dream. The nothingness he faces is only a reflection of what he is, in this case an extinct species. DavideCali – here translated by Béatrice Didiot – plays daring by allowing the discovery of several extinct or threatened species in a formula that could take root in the documentary, but move away more than ever thanks to the mysterious aura that emerges from all. The whole dreamlike side of the story is echoed in Palmarucci’s surreal and bewitching line, which, from the cover pages to this Isle of Shadows, reinforces the dark side of the story. Gorgeous.
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