Anomalisa Trailer Online: I Want to Be a Human
Michael Stone, an author of books on the subject of customer service, struggles with his inability to connect to people. One night, while on a routine business trip, he meets a stranger who changes his world view.
This is the storyline of Charlie Kaufman's new feature film (co-directed with Duke Johnson), after Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2001), and The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).
The only difference is that this time is stop-motion.
Kaufman and Johnson use their puppets not to hide their artificiality, but to blur the difference between the human element and the 3D-printed faces. The trailer feels like a well-thought essay on human individuality, packed up with mundane puppet clothings and a sense of European angst overall.
These puppets have nothing showy or spectacular about them (no Svankmajer here nor even Trnka), but they look like they are trying to become a human -just like Pinocchio craved to become 'a real boy'.
David Thewlis voices Michael Stone, Jennifer Jason Leigh voices Lisa, and Tom Noonan does everyone else. US release (Selected theaters): 30 December. Expect a major Oscar push for the film - and a funny thing to have a stop-motion feature in the Academy's Best Film nominations this year.
