Affairs of the Art

I really did like the detailed quality of the active animation in this latest outing for "Beryl". She likes to draw, indeed she's obsessed with it - and alongside the eccentric behaviour of her husband "Ifor" and their son "Colin" we share in the joy of their collections of perfectly arranged screws, or her stuffed animals, indeed even a fanatical collection of jarred pickles. Nothing is undrawn. Meantime, her sister "Beverly" who has made a fortune extolling the virtues of all things nip and tuck is living the life of luxury in Los Angeles, and at times she is very reminiscent of one or two famous Hollywood stars whom it'd probably be libellous to name! It's a bit on the vulgar side towards the end, and though that might read a bit puritanical, I found it just dragged what was really quite creative and entertaining into the realms of something just a bit crass. Still, it's moves with one heck of a pace, there's a bit of quite pithy dialogue and for the most part it's decent, if a bit long of a watch.

Greetings again from the darkness. Is it acceptable to call Joanna Quinn and writer Les Mills 'frequent collaborators' when they have only made 4 short films together over a 34-year period? Regardless, this is their first since the BAFTA nominated DREAMS AND DESIRES: FAMILY TAKES (2006), and it features the return of the character Beryl (voiced again by Menna Trussler). This time their work has been rewarded with an Oscar nomination for Animated Short Film.

Beryl is an older lady admittedly obsessed with art. She's been that way since childhood and we see that she drew 'all the time', including the walls of her bedroom. During this 16-minute short film, Beryl reminisces about her family and the role art has played in her life. She explains how each family member had their own obsession, and mind you, Beryl is presenting all of this through the eye of an artist. The visuals and (hand-drawn) animation are truly spectacular and fit so well with Beryl's frenetic storytelling.

We each have our own zany family stories, and Ms. Quinn uses Beryl to discuss obsessive behavior. Topics include plastic surgery, taxidermy, and death ... each captured with artistic flair. There is a great line about being 'Trigger-happy', and this may be also be about "hyper-futurism" or vodka, take your pick.

This is the best animated film I have seen since the trio from Belleville. What a great work! There is so much LIFE in this short movie!! So much creativity, ideas, surprises, curiousness, joy and talent that it's bursting at the seams. This should have won an Oscar but I guess that for the sanctimonious Hollywood this is way too creative, too smart, too realistic.

Joanna Quinn is amazingly talented not only as an animator, but her voicing the main character gave the real breath of life to Beth and the whole story.

I'm so glad that YouTube, in its infinite unpredictability and randomness, suggested me this video! Thank you Joanna and Les and all the crew!!!

Director Joanna Quinn's lovable protagonist Beryl returns, telling her own story of her childhood, her family, and herself as an artist and a mother.

The storytelling in Affairs of the Art is fluid and compelling, the characters strikingly honest, and Joanna's distinctive style absolutely captivating. In this film about art, each hand drawn frame of the animation is a work of art in itself.

Affairs of the Art absolutely deserves all the awards buzz it's received, with wins across the festival circuit as well as BAFTA and Oscar nominations.

This is a sick and disgusting film from apparent sociopaths. Joanna Quinn and Les Mills should be ashamed of themselves. Repeated depictions of animal abuse and killing cats for fun is not "art," nor entertainment, even in an adult animated short. Anyone here who applauds a ghoulish sadistic film like this should have their head examined, and possibly have any pets in their homes removed or at least monitored for signs of abuse. Art can provoke, but art that purposely offends clear moral boundaries around animal abuse is a sickness. There is nothing redeeming about killing pets for fun. It is appalling the Academy nominated this sociopath's fantasy film for an Oscar. I could not watch this perverted sadistic short past the scenes of children purposely abusing and killing a pet mouse by blowing it up with firecrackers and then killing a pet cat with a bow and arrow. The film is barely 16 minutes, yet it manages to depict children killing two pets in the first half. Shameful, gruesome, cruel and horrid.