The appreciation we attach to the media we consume is subjective, by definition. For me personally Charlie Kaufman’s superbly animated film Anomalisa (2015) instantly gained a place deep in my heart but it is clearly not a movie everyone will readily enjoy. I’d actually be quite selective even in terms of the people I recommend it to rather than just telling everyone about it like I tend to do when I see something that I really liked. “Be forewarned” I say “this movie falls in the quite bizarre category” . Indeed it certainly requires a distinctive mindset to be savoured as well as a developed appreciation for this specific kind of storytelling which your average movie-consumer will just simply not possess. Pretentious movie snob intro? Check! Let’s proceed.
Truth be told, nothing particularly exciting happens throughout the 90’ runtime, really. You just follow a man seemingly struggling to experience an inkling of social or emotional involvement with the world around him. He is on a business trip in order to give a speech about his career as a Customer Service Representative -a topic on which he has written a best-selling book. While preparing for it the night before he meets a lady at the hotel where he’s staying and ends up spending the night with her. That’s pretty much it. Perhaps the synopsis reminds you of Sofia Coppola’s brilliant Lost in Translation (2003), a similar tale of a disturbingly disconnected individual having an intense sort of one-night stand with a stranger in an unfamiliar and alienating location. Indeed, the parallel holds well as the two movies are quite alike for the most part. Here too I was left feeling both utterly devastated and blissfully revigorated at the same time come the end credits.
The focus lies on the evolution of the characters’ implied emotional state, more than anything else which makes for a type of drama I generally very much enjoy. The atmosphere throughout the film is quite bleak for the most part due to the main character’s demeanour as well as the people he interacts with (the passenger sitting next to him on the plane, the cab driver, the hotel staff, the other guests) pretty much all of whom are far from loveable and even quite annoying at times. This uneasy vibe is strongly supported by the setting which is eerily monotonous and depressing. Outside it’s dark and stormy and inside everything is artificial and devoid of any sentiment.
So no. A feel-good popcorn flick this surely isn’t. If you’re looking to unwind with some pre-chewed comfy entertainment -and mind you there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that- I would recommend an alternative. If, however, you’re up for a punch-to-the-gut confrontational reflection on the cold superficiality of anonymous human interaction and the cynical meaninglessness of our mediocre existence then boy o boy, you’re in for a treat.
Lest I paint too dark of a picture, I should clarify that Anomalisa is in fact very beautiful and endearing for the most part. There is lots of humour and humanity spread throughout and given the modest scope of it all it’s truly remarkable how it manages to grab the viewer by the throat with highly intimate sequences, excellent writing and stellar performances. If you are the kind of person who enjoys self-inflicted torment of the above-described ilk, then do yourself a solid. Watch this gem.
