Fragile Machine

Leda Nea agrees to undergo an experiment concerning machine and human interfacing. The experiment doesn't go as planned and Nea is trapped in a machine shell trying to come to terms with her old live and new.

Or something like that, I'm not sure it was lots of mostly pretty pictures with a New Age jazz score behind them. Its more dream like than lucid, following its own set of rules and reality. Its nice but never really seems to amount to very much. It does struggle to be meaningful, but I don't think it really succeeds. I think it thinks its meaningful, which isn't the same thing.

The film, while often breathtaking, often reminds me of the Mind's Eye video tapes from 10 or 15 years ago which collected what was then cutting edge animation and put it to a similar type of score. I make the comparison because not only do both have a similar feel, they also often use a similar style of animation, which 15 years ago was cutting edge, but here seems more than a bit out of date. The "old school" animation isn't bad its just that compared to some of the other hyper real imagery it seems very much out of place.

This is a renter at best.

I have heard numerous praise for this film's unique approach and artistry, and also some criticism that its animation isn't ILM quality. Of course it isn't! What I think those critics miss is that this was produced by a single person. Why compare it to works by large studios? Compared to other independent works its an impressive artistic and philosophical statement. I had wanted to see the film after hearing that its directors' art had been shown at museums all over the world. After seeing the film I understood why. He's not trying to compete with major animation studios, he's trying to create a new genre of art. One more comment: in my opinion the 10 minute version they recently released is a huge improvement. The new score better compliments the visuals, and the quote at the beginning touches well upon the film's redemptive theme. I would skip the long version in favor of it.

"We will cross the River of Oblivion and shall not stain the soul." - Socrates

A fascinating combination of CG art and music by the indie Aoineko crew. This film is definitely worth a watch for fans of experimental narratives and video art.

The film follows protagonist Leda Nea through a series of different layers of reality. Initially she is propelled only by grief, yet as the film evolves, other forces appear within her.

It is a difficult film to describe, though in some ways it reminds of Kurosawa No Yume, another of my personal favorites. There is very little dialogue in Fragile Machine, save for chapter introductions read by a totally creepy Japanese doll, which sets the mood quite well, and has an awesome tie in at the end.