Dir. Anders Ronnow-Klarlund, 2004, Denmark/Sweden/Norway/UK, 88 min
Cast:
James McAvoy, Catherine McCormack, Julian Glover, Derek Jacobi, Ian Hart
A feature length puppet film hot on the heels of the success of Team America , Strings tells its epic tale purely through wooden marionettes but here the similarities to the American smash hit by the bonkers South Park duo end. Strings is deadly serious - not even a titter can be raised by this visually ambitious film. Its got a great cast- Derek Jacobi, Julian Glover, James McAvoy, Ian Hart and so on - but that isn't enough to rescue the film from its stolid storyline, a sort of mock Shakespearean epic.
Visually, the film is stunning, beautifully lit and shot, the design is immaculate but there's absolutely no reason why the film couldn't have been live action. There's a tenuous bit in the storyline about strings coming down from on high to join to a new baby, and a repeated line about if the strings of a puppet are cut it is effectively dead. These strings, so evident on each and every puppet, are part of the beautiful design, yet it throws up more questions about God, free will and destiny than it dares answer. Not that it matters really, the story is so po-faced even Shakespeare would have nodded off - any decent writer knows that tragedy must be peppered with bits of humour not only to lighten the mood but to emphasise the blackness of the dark moments. Still, the film is beautiful and, if you're in the mood to watch some moving pictures that will just wash over you, this might be a good choice. If you fancy seeing a film that's intelligent, innovative and has a real point to it, watch Team America instead.
It's sad really, this film so wants to be loved, the amount of hours that must have gone into making the marionettes, moving them, giving them some semblance of character must be breath-taking, yet these can only move their limbs and their eyes. Not once does a mouth open, these puppets look as if they talk only through thought transference and no matter how hard the talented voiceover cast try, they can't instil those stiff wooden faces with empathy. Women are also sidelined in the film; a ditzy bimboid sister to the main character Prince Hal is imprisoned and raped (thank God that's a scene not included), a feisty warrior Zita can only maintain her leadership through wearing a mask and finally a mother with young children. Females in Strings puppet-land are either lovers or mothers. This seems particularly out of place as there's a strong class message in the film, with emperors stomping over other people's lives to keep hold of their power shown to be unsustainable. A scene whereby a prisoner's hand is removed to replace Prince Hal's damaged one is one of the few truly moving scenes in the film.
Strings is well directed and the director, Anders Ronnow Klarland is just 34 so looks to have a promising future ahead. As for the scriptwriter, Naja Marie Aidt, apparently she's one of the most successful Danish writers of her generation. One can only assume the script lost something in translation...if only as much time and money had been spent on the script as the puppets, this could have been a truly magical film.
Elizabeth Hyder
|
