imperfection is perfection
Sporadic film reviews by a wanna-be filmmaker
ANOMALISA [2015]
Directed by Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman
Written by Charlie Kaufman
Starring: David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan
Anomalisa is a strange, beautiful, and at times surreal experience from the man behind such mind benders as Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine For The Spotless Mind. Kaufman certainly is not lacking in creativity, however this project is a little more grounded in reality, complete with stop-animation that looks incredibly realistic, this alone is a reason to see this. The characters faces seem to be made of parts, rather than a singular whole. A visual representation of the frail nature of the films subjects? Or perhaps merely a design choice and nothing more; one of the best things about film is that everyone can take something different from them, for the most part, and in that regard Anomalisa is an understated gem.
We follow Michael, who is staying in Cincinnati for a night, and from the opening scene the script and screenplay offer consistent chuckles, often at the expense of Michael’s awkwardness. His inept social abilities are obvious from the start, and I was easily able relate to him as he cringes at complete strangers attempting small talk; a cab driver insists that Michael visit the city’s zoo and try the city’s chilli. It isn’t clear if Michael has some sort of mental health issue, as when he checks into his hotel we can hear voices, whispers saying: “that’s Michael Stone.” We soon find out that he is a minor celebrity, having written a book, and is in town to give a speech. Were the whispers real? It becomes clear that Michael is very detached from life, looking for some sort of change, something to make his life matter.
“It doesn’t matter, everything is the same,” he says at one point. As we see the world through Michael’s eyes, it becomes apparent that every person he encounters is no different from anyone else. Everyone is the same. All these side characters are indeed voiced by one person, and Michael sees them all as one. This is especially evident at the very beginning of the film, as we hear a cacophony of random musings, all blending together into one. Again, all the voices are done by an extremely busy Tom Noonan. The sound-editing overall is used brilliantly to demonstrate how Michael sees the world, or hears it.
The night before his speech, while in his hotel room, Michael thinks he is hearing ‘someone else’, and he panics, knocking on guests’ doors in an attempt to find the voice. He eventually does, stumbling into the room of two women who are in town for his speech alone. He decides to ask them both downstairs for a drink, as one of them sounds different.
Emily, a nice person, sounds like every other character, but Lisa has a different voice. Michael sees her as an anomaly, literally a new voice in his world. She is a woman who stirs emotions within Michael that he hasn’t felt in a long time, despite there being nothing particularly beautiful or special about her. In fact, when Michael attempts to court her into his room, she asks more than once if he didn’t mean to pick Emily. Most people do, she says. But she is the anomaly Michael has been seeking. She may be shy and hesitant, frail, far from perfect. However, when Michael coaxes her into singing softly for him, she finds some confidence as Michael praises the sound of her voice. It is a wonderful scene. Finally, and for the first time in the film, Michael seems comfortable talking to another person. The time they spend together is touching and sentimental, without devolving into saccharine territory.
After a surreal dream, Michael delivers his speech about customer relations, a topic that he doesn’t seem particularly passionate about. How May I Help You Help Them is the title of his book. When he gives his speech, he implores the audience of call centre employees to treat each person they speak to as though they are special, directly contrasting the world he is a part of, the world of sameness that he sees every day.
Anomolisa is an incredible depiction of the human condition, from the banalities of our existence to the sense that each of us is looking for change, for something to breathe meaning into our life. The film is quite simply a very human experience, with Michael being a very human character – all this being achieved with stop-motion animation! The effort put into this animation is exhaustive, and the result of this effort is incredible to watch and to feel, to immerse oneself into. The film explores the depth of humanity unlike any other. A major accomplishment in many ways, this is simply a film every person should see.
12 Comments on “ANOMALISA [2015]”
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imperfection is perfection 
Nice review man. I’ve been trying to see Anomalisa for quite a while. I’m a huge Charlie Kaufman fan so it’s good to hear this is another solid film by him.
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Its very different from his other stuff, but it still so observational and clever in how it is all put together. And that stop motion animation, stunning on a big screen. Hope you get to see it mate, its bloody great!
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I can’t wait to see this – it’s out here fairly soon, I think. Love Kaufman’s work and I like what I’ve been reading so far. Glad to see that you enjoyed it so much.
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It was almost the perfect movie for me, Michael Stone is one of the more memorable characters I have seen in cinema, simply because he is so human.
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The irony, eh?! I just read a really interesting interview with Kaufman about it, earlier this morning. Will definitely catch it at the cinema if I can.
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Ironic indeed. I wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I did. I like Kaufman’s work but this really was an experience. If Sight & Sound is to be believed then its out in the UK early March I think.
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I love stop motion animation in the first place. I have heard a lot about this film and after reading your review, I have to get myself a copy to rent. Nice review, Jordan.
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The animation alone is worth seeing, they look so realistic… It must have taken a MASSIVE amount of time to shoot all the frames
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Hi Jordan, the artistry of this movie is incredible! The stop motion animation looked so realistic. But in the end it’s one of those films I appreciate but not love, y’know what I mean? I do think it deserved the Oscar nom and I don’t mind that this win over Inside Out.
P.S. I saw this incredible film called CONTROL yesterday about the lead singer of Joy Division who had epilepsy, have you seen it? Here’s the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO2sJ1QL0a0 I thought it’d be something you should check out. I’ll be blogging about it for sure, it blew me away.
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Hehe I just replied to your tweet saying you were watching that. I’ve watched it many times, it at times feels like I am watching myself. Apart from the whole amazing musician part, ha!
re- Anomalisa, I was just blown away at how human the whole experience was. To pull that off while using puppets is a fair effort! But yeah I know what you mean. Its hard for me to pick either this or Inside Out, both are fantastic flicks with great themes running through them
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Awesome Jordan! I’m gonna do a proper tribute for that film soon, and also for Sam Riley who’s simply an incredible but underrated actor. He was a musician before he got this role, but his band had dissolved at that point, so I guess he understood the music aspect of the role. But still, I don’t know how he could’ve tackled the epilepsy scenes and managed to impress people like you who knew for real what it’s like.
As for Anomalisa, very true it’s very life-like and the story was quite dark for being an animated feature.
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look forward to it 🙂
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