Annecy 2011 – Day 2
Those of you who could not make it to this years festival and who cursed the people attending will be glad to know it is raining non stop. It would appear that your rain dances have worked and it has made my 1 mile trek to the hotel all the more delightful. Thanks.
However, it has not managed to dampen the enthusiasm and excitement for what has been seen today by the huge crowds of the festival.
Films in competition
Something Left, Something Taken
Dirs. Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata (USA)
Although done in CGI this film almost looks handmade with its well textured and crafted characters and it’s childish fun style that blends well to the story of a couple travelling to San Francisco in order to attend the lecture of a leading forensic scientist. When the couple are picked up by a friend of a friend their imaginations go wild and they worry for their safety as they believe they are in the company of a serial killer. It’s a light hearted fun film that is reminiscent of something from sesame street but with a rather adult theme of serial killers and murderers. These shouldn’t mix but go together very well to the delight of the audience.
The Waterwalk
Dir. Johannes Riddler (France)
A bright and colourful march of fun as a naked yellow cut out man marches across the screen to a bouncy upbeat track. Although the track ‘Jesus Walks’ by the Violent Femmes has little to do with the images of a naked man and later a series of the same man doing an ever increasing variety of walks across the screen. You are put in mind of Monty Python with the cut out style and the Silly Walks in this funny short.
Domashnij Romans (Household romance)
Dir. Irina Litmanovich (Russia)
So far as I can tell this is a film about people doing stuff. I wish I could go more in depth with my views on the meaning of this film but it is not very clearly displayed on screen. The style and execution is an example of the finest and beautiful multiplane cut out work you are likely to see at the festival but apart from that you are left with very little after seeing this.
La Détente
Dirs. Pierre Ducos, Bertrand Bay (France)
The horrors of war are portrayed on screen and the gritty harsh reality and madness of battle usually punctuated by explosions, blood guts and tears. What this film does is take a new look into the mind of a great war soldier as he escapes his senses during this frightful time. He escapes into a soft and cuddly world of tin toy soldiers with candy grenades and chocolate coin medals. In this world the battle takes place on a safe, comfy and cosy patchwork quilt. The style is reminiscent of Silly Symphonies or Terrytoons until even the soldiers escapist point of view becomes clouded and his world slowly drifts back to its harsh normality. This film is a fine display of the cruel senselessness of war packaged in a disjointed fantasyland that can only be realised through animation.
Meniscus
Dir. Maria-Elana Doyle (New Zealand)
This film is an average example of visual effects with little in the way of animated tradition. Smoke is blown which becomes a human body before the body multiplies on the screen like cells under a magnifying glass before becoming a tree. There, I have spoilt it for you. Sorry. Whilst this film is a good example of choreography and visual effects I do not believe it belonged in a festival that showcases the worlds finest animation.
Xing
Dir. Michael Naphan (Canada)
This is a fun film about a Canadian kid who goes for a drive with his friend to go camping before being stopped by a wise cracking moose and his friend. The joke is initially very funny but as the Moose keeps talking the joke wears thinner and thinner, the joke is kick started a few times and the punchline hardly matches the initial humour when we first meet the Moose. The style could easily remind you of ‘Barnyard’ the Nickelodeon film from a few years ago and so is nothing new but it fits the piece very well. I can see this being very popular because it is easily accessible and isn’t in the slightest bit pretentious. Unlike this review.
Conto do Vento (Tale of the Wind)
Dir. Claudio Jordao, Nelson Martins (Portugal)
The first thing that strikes you about this film is the weird effect that greets your eyes as you are blown around a hazy wobbly in and out of focus world centred around a girl playing in a field. It’s a tale of vendetta as the audience (clearly the wind) makes its way following the story as the girls mother gets accused of witchcraft and burnt at the stake and she gets her revenge. The last time I saw an effect like this it was from the point of view of a drunk and although such effects can work well for short periods of time 12 minutes is far too long to be subjected to such an effect. You also get the feeling that the effect is put in place to hide some of the below standard animation as animation basics such as walk cycles seem poorly done.
Viagem a Cabo Verde (Journey to Cape Verde)
Dir. Jose Miguel Ribeiro (Portugal)
How often do you enjoy looking through someone’s sketchbook who’s really good at drawing and see it filled with wonderful images? This is what this film feels like. It is a wonderful journey through Africa and through the pages of a travelers sketchbook as every detail from this wonderful trip is portrayed in a delightfully simplistic way but punctuated by pages from the book which are then animated for greater effect.