Anomalisa, a stop-motion animated film from Charlie Kaufman, will open today at FilmScene, 118 E. College.
By Girindra Selleck
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@Bala596
Charlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa, the first film he’s directed since 2008’s critically acclaimed box office disaster Synecdoche, New York, is simultaneously an exploration of the mundanity and exceptionalism of the human existence, carried out without a single human present.
Originally written and performed as a “sound play” for the stage, Kaufman’s film was reimagined for screen with the actors replaced by 3D-printed puppets, rendered just lifelike enough to imbue a sense of empathy in the audience, just alien enough to maintain a critical distance.
Michael has an atypical problem: Everyone in the world sounds the same to him, both figuratively and literally. He feels overtaxed, as if everyone wants something from him. His wife prods him to perform in a manner that fits her conception of what a husband should be; on a call from home, his son can’t say anything to him except to ask if he has bought any presents yet, and wherever he goes, Michael is surrounded by the apparent ubiquity of consumer propaganda.
To complement this figurative sameness, the literal effect of everyone sounding alike is achieved through the director’s choice to have character actor Tom Noonan voice upwards of two dozen roles, all in the same unvaried tone.
In fact, the only person in the film, besides Michael, with a distinct voice is Lisa, or Anomalisa, as she becomes known after one of Kaufman’s script’s many puns.
Lisa [Jennifer Jason Leigh] is a customer-service-team manager from Akron, as awkward as Michael is sad, possibly the result of an unsightly scar on her left temple, which she habitually covers with her red-tinted bangs.
In Lisa, Michael sees all he has missed in the world. After a night of Belvedere Martinis and Apple Mojitos at the hotel bar, Lisa goes back to Michael’s room for a nightcap, eventually ending with the two of them in bed.
While overwrought exposition and uneven character development can cause Kaufman’s script to seem clunky at times, the love scene between the film’s two main characters is nothing short of breathtaking. Kaufman is able to convey a degree of sensuality and honest humanity with puppets that most directors couldn’t dream of achieving with people.
At times a love story and at times a considered meditation on existentialism, *Anomalisa* is uniquely romantic and deeply relatable.
FILM
Anomalisa at FilmScene, 118 E. College
Friday: 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m.
SATURDAY: 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m., 9 p.m.
SUNDAY: 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m.
Admission: $7.50–9, $6 for UI students