I'm glad I didn't read dispairaging reviews of this film. I went into it not really expecting anything, and I was siezed within the first few minutes. The film is set in an imaginary puppet world. The backdrop is fascinating--a world of puppets, where barbarism is neatly translated: People can swap parts. There are no cielings. With a few exceptions where they break their own rules, the film has so much charm right there. The puppets don't move their mouths, and they don't have to. I stopped noticing. Their eyes tell the story. The cinematography is well done. The puppets are very expressive physically--and ultimately I think that was the point. The story is quite dark, but only mentally gruesome at points. There are enough rays of hope and quite a nice moral to make this one a keeper. Go on and watch it.