MovieChat Forums > Anomalisa (2016) Discussion > the big problem with Anomalisa

the big problem with Anomalisa

posted 8 years ago by TxMike
6 replies | jump to latest

I just watched the movie, on DVD. I had heard the great praise for it but purposely didn't try to learn much about it.

When you read user reviews and some comments here it is clear that many simply do not like the movie, it is often tedious and except for Lisa all the females sound like men. Even the young son sounds like a man.

To me the big problem is the filmmakers must have had a clear vision for what they wanted to present and what everything means but didn't do a very good job of presenting it in a way that most of us can appreciate. So for most of us watching it ends up being a big disappointment.

One poster suggested this explanation, the hotel (The Frigoli) was named from The Fregoli delusion, or the delusion of doubles, a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who changes appearance or is in disguise. If that really is what the filmmakers intended, and that seems plausible, then I suspect most had no idea what the Fregoli delusion is.

It is an interesting experiment in many ways, and I am glad I took the time to see it, but I could not recommend it to anyone I know.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

[–] UESC_Marathon 8 years ago

I didn't make the connection with the Frigoli Delusion when I was watching it, but I think it can be appreciated without that context just as a kind of absurd fantasy / metaphor. Michael feels like he's the only one in the world who's different except for rare moments when he's able to connect to people (or arguably, just becomes infatuated with them). Then once that person becomes a reality instead of an infatuation, they lose interest to him. You can see that in the breakfast scene where the reality of running away with Lisa sets in, and her voice morphs into the "everyone else" voice and all her weird quirks start to annoy Michael instead of exciting him. It's hinted that the same thing happened with his ex in the scene where they get a drink and he says how he felt something 'changed' about her during their relationship. So I think the Frigoli context is interesting, but I don't think it's necessary to get the main themes of the movie.

[–] TxMike 8 years ago

All fair comments. Still I think the film gets lots of adulation for its novelty of stop-motion animation. If you put that aside and just look at the story critically is it really any good? Michael has the problems, he is the anomaly, all the rest are pretty normal. So it is a story of a very flawed man. Hmmmm ... I think that has been done many times.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

[–] BrianNIL25 8 years ago

You didn't even mention that the character Anomalisa is Michael's fantasy while using the Japanese sex doll. Seems to me like that's a pretty big piece of the movie to skip over while explaining how banal the movie is.

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 8 years ago

I disagree with that theory. It is contradicted most obviously by the scene when she is writing the letter in the car and we can see what her pretty friend really looks like. But even without that scene, it wouldn't make sense for her to have a friend at all if she were supposed to be the doll.

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[–] GuyOnTheLeft 8 years ago

It has, and I do think this film has been overrated by the critics. But I also see it as underrated by others like you. For me it is a solid 7/10.

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[–] GuyOnTheLeft 8 years ago

Yes, this is right on the money.

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