Nordling here.
Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s ANOMALISA is an emotional nuclear bomb. I was quietly devastated by it, shocked by how raw and jagged the film was. Even though it’s shot with gorgeous stop-motion, these characters felt more real than even live acting. What Kaufman and Johnson have done, with each meticulous frame, is compassionately explore how our relationships define us, and how we define ourselves inside them. There are many brutal truths in ANOMALISA, some so much so that it is difficult to take in. ANOMALISA felt intensely personal for me, like reopening a scar that should have best stayed closed.
What has always interested me the most about Charlie Kaufman’s work is that he seems to find that his men are at their most human, their most relatable, when they are most vulnerable and uncomfortable, when all the artifice is stripped away and his protagonists are naked and alone. After breaking down his characters completely, they ultimately find their center, their reason to exist. Even then, the character’s journey isn’t done. What these characters discover about themselves, when they finally determine where they want to be in life, it can still elude them. The women in Kaufman’s films find some peace in that knowledge, but when it comes to the men like Caden Cotard in SYNECDOCHE NEW YORK, or Craig Schwartz in BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, awareness isn’t enough. They are humiliated, broken down, and only then do these men have a chance for redemption, even if that redemption ultimately escapes their grasp. It is these possibilities that Kaufman explores – whether we take the road that we should is almost incidental to the truth that we see the path clearly and yet are unable to commit to it.
Kaufman also has the uncanny ability to unflinchingly look at people at their worst and find common ground with his audience. There are moments in ANOMALISA that, even though the stop-motion photography is stunning and beautiful, I wanted to look at through my fingers over my face, because even through the machinations of stop-motion the film felt uncompromisingly real. These moments struck home in a way that felt like a punch to the gut – emotions and experiences, a guilt that is palpable, that ANOMALISA orchestrates perfectly. Even through the beauty of the stop-motion, ANOMALISA is not an easy film to watch. As we follow Michael Stone (David Thewlis) through one night of suffering and pain, lost in the understanding that he actually will not find his true love, trapped in a marriage that feels so banal and alien, perhaps we will also see ourselves in him. That’s the danger of ANOMALISA. Even when Michael meets Julie (Jennifer Jason-Leigh), those voices of those he claims to love (all voiced by Tom Noonan) continue to haunt him. When there is nothing unique about the world, with every voice the same and every experience just another way of marking the time, Michael desperately tries to latch on to something, anything, that gives him the possibility of escape.
The stop-motion is incredible, with each character incredibly articulated. Even the individual hair follicles and skin pores are represented, and I cannot imagine how difficult this movie would have been to make. The sheer beauty of what Duke Johnson has done is overwhelming, and the performances that Johnson and Kaufman get from their actors is intricate and layered. I especially love how Tom Noonan populates this world – other than Thewlis and Jason-Leigh, Noonan voices every character, and he’s funny and disturbing in equal measures.
There are some who will see ANOMALISA and wonder why it’s animated in this way at all when regular actors would suffice, but they would be missing the point – ANOMALISA is a world of carefully crafted veneers, and the rare occasions that we get a glimpse underneath are terrifying in their brutal truth. I realize I’m being vague about specifics, but ANOMALISA is a film best experienced, because everyone will find something of themselves in it – and sometimes that won’t be a comfort. Kaufman and Johnson have created a world that feels both lived in and distressingly artificial, as if at any moment these character would reveal their true nature to themselves.
Like many of Charlie Kaufman’s other works, this will not be universally embraced. But to those who do, they will find a catharsis and an emotional paradigm shift that may cause them to reevaluate everything – their place in the world, their relationships with friends, family, and significant others, and the life goals that they have built for themselves. I think it’s very brave for Paramount to release this film, and if you claim to love film at all, you should not miss ANOMALISA. It is a genuine masterpiece, and hopefully will be recognized during awards season.
Nordling, out.
