What's this all about?

I'm a guy with way too many interests and way too much time on my hands. A while back I realized that I spend a lot of my time just telling people I know about the various media I consume, so I just figured what the hell, let's just lay it all out. On here, you'll see my reviews of video games, films, books, tv shows, and more, but I've also decided to upload my hobbies here as well because why not?

Anima: Love on a Real Train

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Anima is a musical short directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Radiohead's Thom Yorke that details one subway rider's surreal quest to find the woman who he fell in love with on the subway after she leaves her purse (I think). It's short (only 15 minutes), but besides the music and dancing there's also a few notable things that the crew and cast were able to do that intrigued me even if I didn't particularly enjoy this short.

The story is told in 3 acts, or songs. The first establishes our late-night subway goers and his mission to return the purse/catch up with the woman, but obstacles prevent him from doing so and separate him despite his efforts. This leads into song two, which is a departure from the first, detailing the man's efforts to not give into conformity. This left me stumped honestly, and though I am pretty experienced in technical theatre, the exact meaning of interpretive dances have consistently eluded me. Song three acts as our resolution, with the man and woman sharing a couple's dance and embrace as they are blown by the wind into a tram car where the sun rises and closes our story.

Probably one of the cooler spots in the film, great use of contrast. Hey Kilroy!

While Interpretive dance hasn't been and I expect never will be my cup of tea, I'd be remiss if I didn't note the other, more tangible things that I noticed. The fluid and well-choreographed movements of the dancers create a surreal and mesmerizing display to the eye, even when we enter to comparatively grounded third act. The lighting and camerawork are both incredible, and while the second act was my least favorite to watch, it did the most interesting work with those elements. The use of perspective is excellent here, and a few shots were picture-perfect. I realized in the third act that this was filmed in Prague of the Czech Republic, which was a pleasant surprise as I was studying there at the time of this review. Music-wise, I didn't really latch onto this. Ethereal soft-speaking isn't really something I particularly like in the slightest, it puts me on edge, but if you're a fan of Radiohead (can't say I know them, but I think I've heard the name thrown around somewhere) then this will likely be at least of passing interest for you.

In all honesty I believe this to be a visually interesting film, and for that I sort of liked it, though that by no means means that I'll watch this anytime soon. Visuals are a vital part of an effective performance, but that can't carry my enjoyment of the entire production. Eh, it was alright, just not to my liking, but this is coming from the guy that likes to quote The Room to my roommates without any reason, so maybe I'm not the best judge.

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