Anomalisa

Dir: Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson

2015

*****

Charlie Kaufman is a bit of a creative genius in my opinion. Anomalisa is a beautifully introspective look at misanthropy through the fregoli delusions of a self-help author. It's also made using puppets instead of real actors. Now misanthropy is a tricky subject to make appealing, particularly to a wide audience. The puppetry element may seem like a gimmick at first but it really isn't, the story was a play featuring live actors first, the puppets only enhance our protagonist's perception of the world. Fregoli delusion is rare, it makes the sufferer believe that everyone around them are in fact the same person, who constantly changes appearance as a form of disguise. While there aren't many people who suffer this condition, there are many people who feel isolated and alone, even when constantly surrounded by friends and family. Anomalisa also looks at depression, paranoia and the idea that society can act as one and has been somewhat moulded by the media with a muted ideology. There is something rather dystopian about it, even though it is often very easy of relate to. The fact that our protagonist is a successful self-help author adds a much needed slice of satire to the mix, indeed no one is perfect, no one is immune to delusion, fear or disappointment, and perfection is an illusion anyway. Duke Johnson's stop motion puppetry is beautiful and really helps with the fregoli element. There is a very realistic sex scene in the film that is almost made more real because it is performed by puppets, that simply has to be seen to be understood. The main character Micheal is voiced by the brilliant David Thewlis who keeps his British accent which is addressed rather cleverly in the script. Lisa (Anomalisa) is voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh and every other character is voiced by, and looks like, Tom Noonan to emphasize Micheal's condition. When Micheal meets Lisa he is shocked by how different she is, indeed, he sees her as her and not as everybody else (or Tom Noonan) and she becomes Anomalisa, an anomaly, called Lisa. Interestingly though, Lisa really isn't a women out of the ordinary and it becomes clear that she may not be what Micheal wants, rather the product of him wanting her to be. The script is thought-provoking, very clever and very witty. It is subdued one minute and actually rather profound the next, as is now expected from the mind of Charlie Kaufman. It's perfectly thought-out by Kaufman and brilliantly realized through puppetry by Johnson, it's pretty much a faultless film. There are some viewers who this film will never appeal to, as I said, it's a hard subject to sell but I would argue that if you want escapism, realism and something to think about then you could do no better. I like a slow paced film when a slow pace is warranted and to have such long and simple scenes, knowing that each one would take months to film, tells me that the maker's integrity didn't buckle once during the two whole years it took to make. That is a rare and special thing and it was worth every frustrating second in my opinion.