Ah, L'Amour

Before 'Genre', before 'Billy's Balloon' and before 'Rejected' animator Don Hertzfeldt delivered his first twisted and disturbing animated short film. 'Ah, L'Amour' tells the story of a guy who keeps getting rejected by the girls he wants to ask out. Actually, they reject him even before he asks them out. The girls reject him not with words alone, they literally cut him to pieces.

As disturbing as the shorts I mentioned above, it is also as funny from time to time. I must admit there are less laughs than in the later work, but to start with a short like this is pretty good. If you can appreciate the disturbing kind of humor this is definitely an animation you want to see.

"Ah, l'amour" is the ultimate animated slice-of-life comedy of an average male desperately seeking love from the opposite sex. Along his two minute quest he is tortured, maimed, and killed several times, simply for trying to be friendly-- the most unnervingly truthful metaphors of rejection that I have ever witnessed. While this creative, minimalist animation is laugh-out-loud funny, it is also painfully accurate. Personally, I couldn't help but to empathize with the little guy.

I had rarely laughed so hard at animated violence until I watched Don Hertzfeld's work, and Ah, L'Amour is no exception. If you have ever known anyone who claims a potential significant other ripped out their heart and performed any of a series of mutilations upon it, you will be delighted to watch as these are acted out literally rather than figuratively. This brief yet cynical look at getting the time of day (literally) from a female rings especially true with most college-age males. The final interaction of the main character with a female is perhaps the most bitter comment on the subject ever dared to be stated explicitly. A few women may be offended at this cynical view, but I think most of us can relate and appreciate this bluntly honest view of the way some play the game of love.

Though not on the level of insane brilliancy as with Don Hertzfeldt's most recent (within the last several year), Ah L'Amour displays the beginning of the Hertzfeldt logic, only this time in a somewhat more innocent form. In several vignettes we see the act of rejection from women in its most base forms, no matter what is asked there is a violent, murderous reaction with "I just want my space", or "No means no you bastard" preceding it. Hertzfeldt also crumples up the paper and starts all over again with each new try, and its sort of heartfelt in its most utterly crude way. It's like a dash of hopelessness given the finest touch, however not yet totally honed to a point, of dark whimsy. The absurdity of Hertzfeldt is there too, though as a "bitter film" by the director it actually ends much more on that note than with everything else. Oh, and a special thanks to a friend- caffeine!

The animated films from Don Hertzfeldt are very simply drawn--with stick figures and only in black and white (except when he occasionally tosses in some blood). So if you're looking for brilliant art, this certainly isn't a short film for you. However, where his films do excel is at being both funny and totally bizarre. Because they are so weird, they are certainly not for all tastes but are great for just the right off-kilter type of person.

This film is broken down into many little vignettes. In each, an innocent guy comes up to a lady and says something very innocuous. And in each case, the lady turns psycho and does something absolutely violent and horrible in return. I'm sure it's possibly trying to say something profound about male/female communication, but I really liked it for the insane reactions. They were so far over the top that they made me laugh again and again. Give it a watch and see if you, too, are the sort of person who might appreciate the oddness of Don Hertzfeldt.