Annecy 2012: Opening Night Premiers Paperman and The Suicide Shop
As part of the official opening ceremony Skwigly was invited to the world premier of Paperman and the Suicide Shop. Both films proved surprising in their own way.
Lets start with Paperman, the John Kahrs directed short that has the high hopes of animation and Disney fans pinned to its chest. In terms of both technique and of story it left me flabbergasted. A relatively simple tale of a boy meets girl chance encounter leads to the hero desperately attempting to re-introduce himself to a pretty girl via the medium of paper planes from his office skyscraper to hers. His failed attempts and passion for his original goal manifest in the hundreds of discarded planes as they try to guide, prod, poke and shove him towards his destination whilst gently persuading the goal of his affections along to a possible reconciliation too.
The technique does indeed live up to Disney’s wild promises and the blend between 2D and CGI is beautifully realised. Without turning this into a huge podcast style rant I can sum it up by saying that all the artistry of traditional Disney style 2D has been blended with the scope and depth of CGI without compromising any of each techniques strong points, it really is the best of both worlds.
The Suicide Shop
The Suicide Shop by Patrice Leconte followed as the opening night film. We follow the Tuvache family who run a shop that sells every possible means for departure from this life. Although slightly clunky in its storytelling and perhaps pedalling the same joke for too long, this film is nonetheless capable of filling its quota of entertainment and should be applauded for its originality as most features would not dare deal with subject matter of this sort. Although the story is original you can draw comparison with the macabre films of Tim Burton, however with a much more enjoyable dose of humour and slapstick. I can easily predict that it is not the kind of film I will see in my local multiplex anytime soon which is an enormous shame because it is incredibly well executed (if you will pardon the pun) in both technique, style and unique storytelling. I would like to see this form of bold storytelling work its way into more mainstream animated features.
