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User Reviews for: Anomalisa

Mitzle-deleted-1476635645
10/10  8 years ago
So, I got to see Anomalisa and it was fantastic! In terms of the actual narrative, Anomalisa is probably the least complicated out of all of these. However, the intelligent choices that align the themes in this story ensure that there's no lack of interpretation. I mean, anyone who understands the definition of the word 'anomaly' can likely see the purpose in this film being so unique in the first place. In a world where almost every film seems exactly the same, this one stands out in a refreshing way.

One of the most shining elements of this film is the animation. Despite this film being pretty contained in its scale, the cinematography was very impressive. There are quite a few shots that caught me off guard and had me thinking: "wait a minute, this shot has been going on seamlessly for a while now," and in stop motion animation having to reshoot a shot could mean months of extra work. Having the camera follow the main character through small doors into different rooms in the building is not only impressive on a technical level, but it subconsciously adds legitimacy to the universe, making the location feel like it's a very real place.

There's a particular shot where a character can be seen in the reflection of our main character's eyes and I can't imagine how complicated that shot must have been to set up. I'm really hoping that there's a special feature on the Blu-ray release to help explain these things because the animation is seriously impressive. With Charlie Kaufman having seemingly no experience in animation, this movie was co-directed by Duke Johnson. This is his first feature length film but his previous works include Moral Orel.

Now, the animation in Anomalisa has quite the drastically different approach in comparison to Moral Orel. Where Moral Orel was quite cartoony, Anomalisa had a far more grounded approach. This is by far the most human stop motion film I've ever seen. A lot of detail was placed on both vocal and physical character mannerisms, making these characters seem like very real people. Based on the design alone, there's a sense of realism and surrealism at the same time. The character's eyes were more realistic than any animation I've seen, but at the same time there's a consistent design choice they could not have been achieved in live action.

Once again, Charlie Kaufman has impressed me with his sense of purpose, with each decision being made like a puzzle piece that fits into the larger picture. Sure, the decision looks good on its own, but with the rest of the film in context you can see how it fits.

Suffice it to say, I cannot wait until I can see this film for a second time. Because somehow, despite only having seen it once, it's already starting to grow on me. 10/10
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