Finally catching up withe films of Don Hertzfeldt, courtesy of the Guild Cinema.
ME (A-minus) - The latest from animation provocateur Don Hertzfeldt is a throbbing meditation on humanity, capitalism and technology. It is described as "a 22-minute musical odyssey about trauma, technology, and the retreat of humanity into itself."
It's a dizzying assault on the senses, in a good way. Devoid of dialogue, it has a pounding score, which ranges from jazz to operatic aria to techno. The images touch on police brutality in a totalitarian apocalyptic society. It simply is too much to take in and be able to cogently assess.
It will take another viewing, but Hertzfeldt doesn't make it easy. There is not even a trailer online. He is retro in the best ways. In a stylistic leap from the crude black-and-white forms of his earlier work, "Me" flashes brilliant flourishes. Hertzfeldt loops scenes of technological dangers back upon each other. It peaks with an aria that soars visually. It's a wonder to absorb.
IT'S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY (2012) (B+) - This is actually a mashup of three shorts. Hertzfeldt goes old school to create a multiple-screen effect to capture is crude stick-figure drawings to chronicle the ordinary life of a man named Bill.
Hertzfeldt narrates in a measured but urgent voice, apparently from inside Bill's mind, which fuels the idea that Bill is an unreliable narrator because of mental illness brought about by trauma. It reminded me of something I read recently about how the mind can shut down in the elderly as a way to stave off rational thoughts of our physical decline.
Bill suffers from some serious maladies, but he learns to appreciate the beauty of the world around him. He lives more in the moment. And he may have found the secret to eternal life. It throbs with the passion of a filmmaker perfecting his career's defining opus.
BONUS TRACK
The melancholy closer for "Me," Jelly Roll Morton with "Sweet Jazz Music":
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