Madame Tutli-Putli

I can't say this was not challenging for me, visually speaking, because it was. This is the work of really competent people, in every technical aspect. I specially enjoyed the placement of real filmed eyes over the built puppets. It added a lot to the hole mood. The sets are really fantastic, check all the different packages, clothes, accessories, and all the things stuffed in the train. Check how the characters were developed, how their expressions are really intentional. And than check the editing, with special note to the way sound effects (and music) are mixed with the image composition. This is really good work. But it didn't stay with me, because it failed into challenging my imagination as it challenged my visual understanding of the scenes, sets, characters and pacing. In the end, this left nothing inside, it didn't give me much to dream or even think about, even though it was clearly aimed at provoking those feelings. It even allowed my imagination to mentally review and re enjoy other films i had just seen, and when this happens to me, it usually happens because the images in front of me fail to capture my attention. Of course this may be a matter of personal choices, or finding in the images displayed elements to which one personally relates. I didn't relate to what i've seen.

My evaluation: 2/5 it may work for you, it didn't for me.

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This was an astounding, haunting little film. The protagonist has this eerie Buster Keaton look about her and the subtlety and realism of her expressions is extraordinary. It's like no stop motion animation I've ever seen. The protagonist is this small, put upon woman who embarks on a train journey with what appear to be all her worldly possessions. She speaks not a word the entire time, but her gestures and her giant silent film star eyes are incredibly evocative as she faces small insults and later very real threats on her journey. Try to catch a screening of this amazing tiny gem if you can, or order it via Netflix. It's absolutely worth it.

strange option for its viewers. and real useful. because it seems not have a subject. but this fact is only a detail .because you could be one of its characters. the story is a trip in a large yard of significances, cultural references, it could have so many explanations than becomes an adventure. it is easy to describe it as a labyrinth but , after its end, you understand to be more. the great animation, the chains of details , the each gesture and the single word, the terror birth by profound ambiguity are pieces who defines it. a film for great patience and large imagination. a magic one for the feeling after its final. and for the special form of sympathy for madame Tutli - Putli.

With a name like Tutli-Putli, one can expect many things. But one will not expect the marvelous short film Lavis and Szczerbowski will present you. Though the name sounds kinda ridiculous (and is reminiscent of oddly creepy characters from children's tales), it's actually a Hindu word referencing "puppet" and "delicate women". Bet you didn't expect that.

Madame Tutli-Putli is a 17-minute, stop-motion animation short. Now, I'm a big fan of stop-motion already, but the work of both directors takes this particular field in cinema way beyond.

Looking at the credits, you'll see that both directors did a lot of the work themselves. From script to art direction to animation to sculpting, it's all very much their own blood, sweat and tears. Typical for such films (where directors are playing a key role in most aspects of the production), Madame Tutli-Putli has a very characteristic and detailed feel to it.

The most striking element of the film are the visuals, which are beyond impressive. The combination of agile camera work with the animation of the puppets is simply nutters. A lot of effort was spent on getting the lighting just right, the puppets look gorgeous and the setting just oozes detail. The visual impression reminded me of the work of Pitoff and Caro, set in a universe that could've easily been that of Les Triplettes de Belleville.

The animation itself is quite slick and solid, without losing the stop-motion feel. Another eerie detail are the eyes of the puppets, which were filmed in real life, then superposed on the puppets. They've tried a similar technique with mouths before, but never to good effect. With the eyes it works miraculously, giving the puppets that little extra bit of humanity.

Apart from the stunning visuals, the film boasts a marvelous score, starting off rather jazzy and ending in more ethereal sounds as the film progresses. It's nice to see that the same level of detail went into creating and timing the soundtrack, something which is often overlooked.

The film is short, making the story rather confusing the first time around. There is no dialog and little time to grasp the realm of Madame Tutli-Putli. The whole story develops inside the train and transcends normal storytelling by the end of the film. Personally, I liked the feel of the ending, although I haven't been able to make much sense of it so far.

If I had to name one downside, it would be the length of the film. I realize the amount of work that goes into creating a short like this is tremendous, but in the end it does feel rather short and I wouldn't have minded to sit through another solid 40 minutes of Madame Tutli-Putli.

This short is a marvel in the realm of stop-motion film. A true milestone project that will hopefully keep the genre alive. Sadly, it's another short film and no full length feature, but hopefully this film might give Lavis and Szczerbowski the funding to create a feature film in the near future. Definitely recommended, 4.5*/5*

Madame Tutli-Putli is one of five Oscar nominees for Best Animated Short of 2007. I saw this Canadian effort on a link from Cartoon Brew. It basically tells, in silent form with luminous musical scoring throughout, a story of a young woman with plenty of baggage, both literally and figuratively, on a train as it travels during the day and night with other people and insects who may or may not be figments of her imagination. I admired many of the images and the way various cuts and movements were made yet there was a confusing air that wasn't entirely satisfied by the end. It's obviously supposed to be dreamlike in a kind of abstract quality but that wasn't enough for me to think this was one of the best animated efforts of the previous year. Still, it was certainly unique so on that note, I'd recommend Madame Tulti-Putli to anyone with a real sense of imagination.