epiphany

Two of the Best

I've seen two of the best movies of the year in just over two weeks. One was stunning in its beauty, the other a fun romp. Both were remarkably imaginative. Neither featured a single frame of human flesh. Yet each could receive awards for the acting. And both will certainly have a run for Oscars.

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is easily the most beautiful film of the year, possibly of many years. It is, in my opinion, his best work since The Nightmare Before Christmas. (And yes, I know he wasn't the only director for Corpse Bride.) From the opening titles to the end of the film, the eyes are in for a feast of color, grace, and imagination. Within the first ten seconds, having seen little more than titles, I knew that I wanted to buy this movie on DVD, if for nothing other than its sheer beauty. Based on a Russian fairy tale, the Corpse Bride tells the story of Victor, his betrothed Victoria, and his unexpected, unintended, and unwanted--but legally binding--marriage to Emily, who died years before they met. Victor tries to find his way out of the mess and back to the land of the living while Victoria seeks to rescue him and avoid marriage to an evil usurper. The tale revolves around themes of loyalty, love, prejudice, and the keeping of promises to the hurt of the maker. Danny Elfman's music, while not his most original, is suitably haunting and makes me want to pick up the soundtrack. The piano is wonderful.

To fans of stop motion animation, Wallace and Gromit are among the most famous characters in the world. After all, not just anyone could revive the Wensleydale cheese industry single-handed. The trailer for The Curse of the Were-Rabbit looked singularly uninteresting, but knowing the fun of their earlier short films, I decided to forego a second viewing of Corpse Bride for the opening weekend of Were-Rabbit. I do want to see Corpse Bride again in the theater, but I am not at all disappointed by my choice today. I was concerned that Wallace and Gromit couldn't maintain their charm beyond the 20 to 30 minutes of their previous three films. My concern was baseless. 84 minutes flew by. The style and story are about as far removed from Corpse Bride as stop motion can get. (You can actually see the animators' fingerprints on the clay in several of the shots.) Were-Rabbit is, as I said earlier, an inventive romp as our heroes try to free their vegetable-mad village from the grip of not only the blossoming rabbit population but also an oversized hairy menace. Featuring a full gamut of co-director and creator Nick Park's wonderful inventions and nutty sense of humor, Were-Rabbit is an absolute delight. I doubt the Academy would ever allow it or consider it, but Gromit honestly deserves this year's award for Best Supporting Actor.

Speaking of Oscars, the thought of these movies competing against each other makes me cringe. Each deserves awards. No matter which one wins Best Animated Feature (and there's very little chance that another movie could truly compete against these two), I'll feel a tinge of disappointment for the other very worthy competitor. It's a great and rare year (and time of year) that two such marvelous stop motion films should appear. I'm truly thankful for the opportunity and privilege to have enjoyed both of them.