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Anomalisa

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Anomalisa
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written byCharlie Kaufman
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJoe Passarelli
Edited byGarret Elkins
Music byCarter Burwell
Production
companies
  • Starburns Industries
  • Snoot Films
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release dates
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8 million

Anomalisa is a 2015 American stop-motion adult animated comedy-drama film directed by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson and written by Kaufman, based on a play by Francis Fregoli, Kaufman's pseudonym. The film will star the voices of David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tom Noonan. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival, after premiering at the Telluride Film Festival on September 4, 2015.[1] The film is scheduled to be released on December 30, 2015 by Paramount Pictures.[2]

Synopsis

Michael Stone, an author of books on the subject of customer service, struggles with his inability to connect to people. One night, while on a routine business trip, he meets a stranger who changes his world view.[3]

Cast

Production

Kaufman wrote the original play under the pen name Francis Fregoli[4] for Theater of the New Ear, a series put on by composer Carter Burwell made of what are described as "sound plays". Initially Kaufman was against the idea of turning the play into an animated film, saying that the play had "a disconnect between what’s being said on stage and what the audience is seeing – there’s Tom playing all these characters, there’s Jennifer and David having sex while they’re really just standing across the stage from each other and moaning. You’d lose that." Subsequently the film was reinvented, although the actual script was "virtually the same" as the original play.[5]

The film raised its budget on Kickstarter so as to "produce this unique and beautiful film outside of the typical Hollywood studio system where we believe that you, the audience, would never be allowed to enjoy this brilliant work the way it was originally conceived." Pitched as a short film "approximately 40 minutes in length," 5,770 backers pledged $406,237 to help bring the project to life.[6] After the success of the Kickstarter, additional funding was secured by the film's production company, Starburns Industries, and the film was expanded to feature length of approximately 80 minutes.[7]

The puppets were created with the use of 3D printers,[8] and while Johnson was told that such realistic animation would be "disturbing and off-putting," he disagreed.[5] To that end, a goal of the film was for viewers to "forget they were looking at something animated and just get wrapped up in the scene," further explaining that "the challenge we felt with so much animated stuff is that you're always conscious of the animation, and we kept asking, 'What if we could escape that? What would it be like?'"[8]

Release

Anomalisa premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 4, 2015. The film is scheduled to be released on December 30, 2015 by Paramount Pictures.

Reception

Anomalisa currently has a 100% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 33 reviews; the average rating is 9.5 out of 10. The site's consensus reads, "Anomalisa marks another brilliant and utterly distinctive highlight in Charlie Kaufman's filmography, and a thought-provoking treat for fans of introspective cinema."[9] The film also holds a 98/100 score on Metacritic based on 11 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[10]

Writing for Time Out and awarding the film five out of five stars, David Calhoun wrote, "It's what you imagine might have happened if Charlie Kaufman had got his hands on Up in the Air or Lost in Translation."[11] Drew McWeeny of Hitfix called it "the most shattering experiment yet from Charlie Kaufman" and graded it an "A+".[12] LA Weekly's Amy Nicholson gave the film an "A" and wrote, "Kaufman is taking our brains apart and showing us the gears."[13]

Awards

Austin Fantastic Fest 2015
Award Category Nominee Result
Best Director Fantastic Features Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman Won
Mill Valley Film Festival 2015
Award Category Nominee Result
Audience Award Animation Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson Won
Venice Film Festival 2015
Award Nominee Result
Future Film Festival Digital Award, Grand Special Jury Prize and Golden Lion Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson Won and Nominated

References

  1. ^ "Official Awards of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival". Venice Film Festival. 12 September 2015.
  2. ^ "Toronto: Paramount Buys Charlie Kaufman's 'Anomalisa'". Variety. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Anomalisa – Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson". Venice Film Festival.
  4. ^ Lawless, Jill. "Charlie Kaufman wows Venice critics with inventive adult animation 'Anomalisa'". US News and World Report. Associated Press. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  5. ^ a b Rommey, Jonathan. "Charlie Kaufman on weirdness, failure and his new puppet noir". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Charlie Kaufman's Anomalisa". Kickstarter.
  7. ^ "Kickstart Update #39: Anomalisa Timeline". Kickstarter.
  8. ^ a b Zeitchik, Steven. "Charlie Kaufman breaks hiatus on own terms in 'Anomalisa' at Telluride". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Anomalisa (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Anomalisa". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  11. ^ Calhoun, Dave (8 September 2015). "Anomalisa". Time Out. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  12. ^ McWeeny, Drew (18 September 2015). "Review: 'Anomalisa' is the most shattering experiment yet from Charlie Kaufman". HitFix. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  13. ^ Nicholson, Amy (15 September 2015). "Charlie Kaufman Has Directed His Second Masterpiece". LA Weekly. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
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