Indie animator and one man production team M Dot Strange's latest feature Heart String Marionette follows in its predecessors footsteps, its weird, its wild, its vulgar and yet its refreshing and sublimely strange. Heart String Marionette begs the question how to describe it, a David Lynch film channelled through warped CG Animation, A Childs Nightmare turned stream of conscious poetry, edgy anime tropes coalescing into a fractured narrative, a riddle wrapped inside a mystery locked in an enigma. No matter how you may try to perceive it and describe it, you are doomed to fail, M Dot Strange has crafted something bizarre, engaging and new, devoid of any attempt at description.
When one begins to dissect HSM one can easily spot M Dot's stylistic touchtones and influences. The CG animations schizophrenic shifting from crystal clear smoothness to unnerving and erratic jerking motions is reminiscent of underground Motion Capture and CG animation as well as the early works of the Brothers Quay. His obsession with samurai culture, Japanese names, anime references and archetypes conjures to mind the most gritty, action packed and self-aware of all anime series, series such as Vampire Hunter D and Blade of the Immortal. His skewed narrative structure, filled with nightmarish visions whilst still somehow maintaining a level of character and in this case emotional depth brings to mind the way a David Lynch or Cronenberg film is approached, narratively speaking that is. M Dot's formula then seems to be 1 part Brothers Quay, 1 Part Anime Culture and 1 Part David Lynch and 1 Part Stream Of Conscious Spontaneity. To pool such influences together and yet come up with something provocative, watchable, intense and jarring is a tough balancing act, one most would be unable to pull off but M Dot does it with aplomb.
From a story and thematic standing, the film demonstrates M Dots greatest improvements. The story line on the surface of the film is a very simple one, one that anybody can sink their teeth into, it is a tale of redemption for Samhaine Tsuke, Siouxie and the monster ridden country side the two seem poised to save. A simple premise and story but one that works incredibly well and one that is easy to pickup on (unlike the storyline of his first film the equally as strange and entertaining weirdo opus We Are the Strange). However deceptively simple the basic premise and story-line may be M Dot spruces it up with a fragmented and fractal approach and thematically touches upon much more than just a redemption fable. Never before has M Dot really had a social conscious about his films but thematically in HSM we are treated to comments on religion, female rights, man-kinds pitfalls, satanism and even the structure and sanctity of the family unit, its these numerous sub-themes and touchtones that bring a level of depth to what on the surface is a very easy to follow story and setup. Granted this multi-thematic approach to storytelling and symbolism has some drawbacks, it makes the point of the movie hard to grasp and feels fractured overall but that is also part of the mystery and fun of HSM, it merits repeat viewings.
The Score is worth noting as well, M Dot teamed up with composer Endika for the entirety of the score you hear and it works wonders. The musical score is contemplative, beautiful and intense. It demonstrates perfectly the power behind the tandem of sound and image, as a result the film receives a bit of extra emotional grounding, most evident in the closing stages of the film. It is this extra little emotional push that really makes HSM by the movies end feel like another weirdo opus in its own right, one that is high on the strange but also high on commentary, sentiment, forthrightness and even accessibility .
It is truly a step up and a step towards a more positive direction. Good job M Dot Strange, it is one of the best animated films I've seen all year.
