I can imagine Aimy in a Cage causing great distress to a casual audience during screenings. Not so much for the content, as it's artistic and experimental form. I pity those who don't have the imagination or capacity to dream of cinema outside of a prescribed copy & paste format. There is a lot owed to Tim Burton - with the colored lighting, gaudy sets, costumes and props reminiscent of Burton's earlier works. The theme of being a repugnant and excluded artist is also present throughout. I saw the film as a subverted allegory for a girl struggling with an eating disorder, but who knows. Like the best surrealist cinema, the film flows subconsciously, like coming in-and-out of deep sleep. The cuts don't necessarily match and the audio isn't always synced, but it only adds to the orchestrated chaos of the film. Intentionally or not, I found the film hilarious in parts, especially scenes involving the Grandmother or Crispin Glover. Unfortunately, the narrative does fall-apart around the 50-minute mark (somewhat amusing in itself) as the cast shrinks downs to a trio. No doubt due to budget constraints. Still, I commend the filmmakers for creating this nightmarish fairytale, experimenting with cinema as an art-form. Which - lets face it, in recent times has reverted to being spoon-fed warm diarrhoea by major corporations.
