Reflective Encounters

“Michael Cusack’s film is a dark and sober war-time tale, notable for its striking monochrome photography (credited to Richard Chataway). It’s refreshing to see stop-motion animation that commits to the medium’s textural qualities, and particular praise should be given for the prop-making. The film’s central location, a bombed-out building, has the tactile feeling of a lived-in environment: splintered furniture and sooty objects litter the floor. Special attention has also been paid to the soldier, whose puppet has a pleasing rag-doll quality.

The environment’s physicality lends itself to the performance at the film’s heart.  The animator carefully handles a convincing portrayal of a lost figure on the frontlines. Intricate sound-design (by Justin Astbury) adds a further sense of presence to the period setting, supplying weight to the house’s creaking floorboards and rotting wood. A phantom presence of the soldier’s partner feels somewhat typical, but the use of live-action (or rotoscoped) performance is intriguing. Casting a long shadow, the impact of world war defines all that came after. It’s interesting to consider what such a seismic event could mean to modern filmmakers. Does the current fascination with this specific period signify an acknowledgement, or avoidance, of the crises of the present?”

— Chris Childs