The emotions are real. They are tucked away, where you can't physically see them, in the story, but they are there-not unlike a subliminal message that infers you to drink more water and vote for that GOP candidate.
I suppose that's what keeps bringing me back. I watch kids today, who lose themselves in the worlds created by video games, and, in many ways, that animated world is a large chunk of the world they know. And for my generation? Transformers was a huge hit--but based on a cartoon. Proof that the Gen-Xers are really into their animation in some form.
My partner loves Netflix's online option. He's always just listing whatever films they have available and watching. Recently we found two titles. I knew one had been nominated for an Academy Award; the other was something he stumbled across.
And both hit me in places, in a shorter time, than other films. And though I didn't bawl like an infant, I realized there is a lot of work in expressing emotion in an unfamiliar world.
The first of the movies was The DragonHunters. The descriptors had everything he and I would enjoy. We've got fantasy, sword-fights, dragons and a recommendation from Netflix. And it was streaming online. Quick fix, new movie,on a rainy Wednesday night. Feeling adventurous, it was worth a quick view.
The story is the one we we've heard a thousand times before. Brute with a heart, his obnoixous manager, a screaming but smart princess and some kind of weird creature with a funny voice. It was like the Wizard of Oz or Star Wars--where an unlikely group of comrades join together for a common goal. I've never really argued that they shouldn't do that-I'm all for taking an old theme and making it new again.
But this lacked any magic. We'd been down the road before. We knew the storyline in the first five minutes. We could talk between ourselves and our predictions were one hundred percent. Yet we watched until the very end. And the discussion got furthered. Why did we keep watching what was basically a rehash of stuff we'd been exposed to before?
It clicked when we nuked the popcorn in the kitchen.
The main characters were hinting at being a gay couple. Two males wanting to collect cash after killing a dragon and moving to a tranquil farm. They had an adopted daughter. They worked together well.
And it worked in that department. A bit of research discovered a few more details--it was made in France. Aha! Something like this would never have taken hold in America. And better, there was even a television series based off of it.
The change from that one singular character standpoint was enough to make these animation hounds keep watching.
The same thing happened with our next movie. On the surface, it was far from great, but futher discussion hit us. The movie was called The Secret of the Kells and it hit us from a different angle. Animation is under going something of a resurgence these days. People can now make cartoons on their home computers. With such quickness, other aspects of filmmaking suddenly become important. Writing, and, more specifically, plot, theme and nuance.
And artwork.
The Secret of the Kells tells the story of a monasteary in Ireland's history during the time of the Vikings. They are writing the illuminated Bible, something that still exists today in at Dublin College. The film is a cultural slice, explaining the creation of this famous text but also tying in the strong beliefs of the countryside, including fairies and Catholic tradition.
And stained glass windows.
The film does something Disney and Dreamworks had never tried; evidenced by it being an independent film and even getting nominated as an animated short by the Academy. The movie focuses on its art and culture. There is conflict, to be sure (those Vikings are drawn as vicious brutes with no faces), but it isn't the center. Instead, there's internal conflict of the characters and, frankly, it isn't for children. Even we yawned. But we didn't break away. In fact, we were remined of those individuals who stare at art. This was animation as artwork. It was, truly, beautiful to behold.
Just like a moving stained glass window. I think that was what the creators wanted to do. I recommend it, with reservations, as well. It was incredible. Not only that, there is a strong sense of cultural heritedge going on with this flick. You can sense the pride in being Irish with every frame.
Two cartoons, one review. Let me know what you think.
