'Anomalisa' is fable-like comedy, shot with anatomically-correct stop-motion puppets, about alienation, loneliness and boredom.
Originally realised as a ‘sound play’ back in 2005, in which three actors performed the action without costumes or sets, it was recreated for the cinema screen after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2012.
David Thewlis voices Michael Scott, a keynote speaker at a customer-service convention in Cincinnati, who is dissatisfied with his family life and decides to look up an old girlfriend while he’s in town. He soon comes to realise, however, that the people around him all seem to be the same person. And this realisation drives him to uncover, Dante-like, the nature of the world in which he exists.
'Anomalisa' is a small film in every respect. Partly in the sense that the cast is made up of just three actors – David, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tom Noonan – and the run-time comes in at a brief 90 minutes. It is also literally small, in that it was made with 3D-printed puppets that were shot on miniature sets. But the film is really small in that the themes that it is concerned with are all quite intimate, personal and relatable.
Despite this smallness, or perhaps because of it, 'Anomalisa' is a film which stays with you for days. A lot of this is due to Charlie Kaufman’s absurdist comedic sensibilities, which he channels to provide us with a constant stream of smart and amusing gags. A favourite of mine was the bellhop, who is so wholly immersed in his script that he seems unwilling, or even incapable, of listening to the hotel guests. Most of the film’s charm, however, is due to Leigh’s self-deprecating and utterly enchanting performance as Lisa. She can take a scene in which she is elbowed in the face and not only make it funny but also completely adorable.
'Anomalisa' is a film small in scope but broad in its impact: a deserving Oscar nominee for Best Animated Film, and a fine entry in Kaufman’s catalogue.
Five out of five puppeteers.
– written by Justin Boden
