Consuming Spirits

Patman · Nov 22, 2012

Christopher Sullivan's animated dystopia is about as far from a cartoon-for-kids as they come. Relationships among the three main characters - Earl Gray, Gentian Violet, and Victor Blue - multiply and divide as their stories becomes increasingly complex, hilarious, and scary. The Huffington Post writes of the film's "insanely meticulous construction" and continues: "The animation took 15 years of work... The characters were hand-drawn onto layers of glass which were then moved with needles and pins. The film seamlessly combines cutout animation, pencil drawing, collage, and stop-motion animation to create the haunting atmosphere of a self-contained world... most of whose characters walk shakily between self-medication and a bad trip... ugly characters who make up the most beautiful spectacle you've ever seen."
Click to expand...

The pacing of Consuming Spirits unfolds in a slow, deliberate fashion, akin to the work of such independent filmmakers as Dennis Potter, Terence Davies, Robert Altman, and John Cassavetes. Like these live-action filmmakers, every frame of Sullivan's animation film is crafted with attention to intricate detail. The accumulation of these images builds to a great atmospheric effect, achieved through an adroit combination of inventive set design, ever-shifting visual perspectives, fluid camera movements, a vivid color palette, and a haunting music track. Sullivan succeeds in creating, with great artistry, a hermetic, self-contained world emanating from his own unique and vivid imagination.
Click to expand...

Not sure if/when I' ll be able to get my hands on it, but it seems to be worth a look.

Log in or Sign up

Consuming Spirits

Patman Bof

Premium