This animated film follows life events of a family through 1920-1930s via an inanimate object: The Matchbox.
We’ve all heard an imaginative saga about a ring told by the protagonists’ adventures. We have also seen objects held inside clear plastic bags that protagonists must investigate to uncover the story behind a gruesome murder. Though it may be without a magical power or a bloodstain, every object has a story. As they surround us everyday, they become a part of our life story. The Matchbox is an inanimate, non-anthropomorphized, protagonist that tells a story about humans in an inanimate way. Like the indifferent nature of lifeless objects, the film narrates in bits and pieces giving us only the microscopic view. As the story transpires, the narrative expands beyond the matchbox itself.
In the end, the matchbox may not be viewed the same way. It gains a life of its own having been part of a life story of this family. While the family becomes a part of a bigger narrative of human history.