Silence appears golden. Esteban Sapir provides a beguiling fairytale with a mixture of animation and live action. Located somewhere between the sinister ‘Sin City’ (Robert Rodriguez, 2005) and the sadness of ‘Bellevue Rendezvous’ (Sylvain Chomet, 2003) are beautiful views of a muted city. We first encounter it as a drawn topography, then a wonderfully rendered model town pasted together in grey, frame-skipping but vivid black and white.

Beauty is only skin deep however. The entire city has lost its voice. ‘Mr. TV’, who effectively runs the city through his television and merchandising monopoly, somehow is the reason why silence pervades. The townsfolk do not appear disturbed, leaving lingering the merest whisper about their own complicity in this muteness. Mr. TV is not satisfied with this state of control. He desires total subjugation.

As is silently pronounced by ‘The Inventor’s’ father, “They have taken away our voices but we still have words.” Mr. TV aims to eradicate this last freedom by employing a strange machine to divest the city’s inhabitants of words. The one remaining speaking denizen known as ‘The Voice’ is somehow the key to working of this machine. She is kidnapped. The Inventor, his family and the son of The Voice mount a rescue operation to save the city and perhaps The Voice herself.

This all works very well. A wonderful self-contained world has been created. Even the subtitles that vivify the silent voices are an integral part of the animation palette. It is only when external elements are introduced that the film suffers a little. At a crucial moment we are presented with Nazi and Jewish symbolism, which inevitably casts a different light on proceedings.

The film already works as a subtle allegory - a salutary tale against plutocracy, propaganda, apathy and fascism. The destructiveness of the evil empire is implicit. The presentation of these symbols problematises somewhat. Are the city dwellers Jews, or Germans silent about sudden Jewish invisibility? Is the city a concentration camp? Is Mr. TV Hitler? The introductions of the Swastika and the Star of David are understandable, perhaps laudable but ultimately unnecessarily didactic.