MOVIE REVIEW: Anomalisa (2015)

Anomalisa (2015)

Animation, Drama, Comedy

Directed By: Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson 

For decades, stop-motion animation has been a tool seldomly used within Hollywood. Not because it doesn't work, but because it is extremely difficult and expensive. You have to dedicate immense amounts of time to shoot each and every frame of the film one at a time and there is almost no room for error. So you can see where the intrigue lies with Charlie Kaufman's (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) newest film Anomalisa, a rated R stop-motion animation that tells an unconventional tale for the medium. Rather than use it to tell something wild and fantastical, like it has typically used for in the past, Kaufman uses stop-motion to tell a story that is almost too real in its humanity. 

It is best to go into this film with as little knowledge of the plot as possible so I won't give you much. The story focuses on a successful businessman who has just landed in Cincinnati for a work conference. This man is clearly unhappy from the opening frames and it sets the stage for what's to come over the next ninety minutes. Once he is checked into his hotel another night of his mundane life begins, and we watch as it unfolds as (we can only assume) it has countless times before over the past decade. As far as we are concerned this is just another day in the life of this busy, yet insignificant man's life. 

I had no idea what to expect from this movie going in, all I knew is that it was stop-motion that took three years to film and it had been getting rave reviews. After leaving the theater I didn't know what to think, I definitely loved parts of it, but others I wasn't so sure of. After conversing on the film for a solid hour afterwards with my cousin (who saw the film with me) it was pretty clear that this picture is powerful. We kept digging deeper and deeper into the simplistic idea of the story and how it transfers over to all of our lives, how it is ultimately the human condition and out of our control. 

The stop-motion itself is rather impressive, even though the entire film you know these aren't actually people (as you can see the seams of where the figures are put together throughout the entire film) you often forget this fact due to the reality of the characters. I typically shy away from realistic animation as it often comes off way too creepy, but within this story it all works as it should. These characters need to mimic real life in order to get across what exactly Kaufman is trying to tell us. Once you have seen the film you understand that this was the only option for making this, digital animation would just feel like a cartoon and live-action simply wouldn't work at all.

My adoration for stop-motion drew me to this film, but in the end it is the authenticity of the story and the execution of its characters that I will forever remember. Though it is clear that I enjoyed the film I have a feeling that with each year I grow older this film will hold more and more reverence from me. At only twenty four I feel I still lack a few life experiences to truly appreciate the message of this film, but I understand it and I see how it is relatable to the majority of the people in this country. If you are looking for something unlike anything you have seen before check this one out while it is still in theaters. 

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!