Imagination

Imagination seems to be about learning the secrets of heaven and nature. Starring are identical twin sisters, one who is going blind and the other who suffers from a type of autism called Asperger's syndrome. The premise is that together they have a special gift that enables them to rise above their physical disabilities and collectively escape reality into a realm of their imagination. It is when the film moves into the stop-motion animated worlds that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It is through Eric Leiser's many animation techniques that the two girls connect with a spiritual force/deity and ascend from their limited reality into something much greater and more magical. Which is somehow related to an albino fawn. Regarding their clueless parents, the twin girls say, "They forgot what it means to dream."

I think the Leiser Brothers could, in the future, turn in amazing works along the lines of Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and The Science of Sleep (2006). They obviously are a talented duo. Alternatively, they could focus their film-making in the world of animation, à la Jan Svankmajer or the Brothers Quay, which is this film's obvious strength.

You've got to hand it to Eric Leiser. It takes creative cajones the size of the Mayo Clinic to take on a subject as tricky as mental illness - or in this case, neurological dysfunction - and keep it from being a preachy, predicable disease of the week kind of weeper. The sparkling independent effort Imagination is anything but a limp Lifetime movie, avoiding all the clichés within this type of narrative while investing the film with a far amount of invention and insight. We've all heard tales of twins and their inexplicable psychic connection, how one sibling senses what the other is feeling and visa versa. Well, Imagination is one of the few films that wants to explore the inner workings of that connection. Using stop motion animation, various post-production techniques, and other storyline supposition, Leiser unlocks the inferred secrets of such biological sameness, and then inserts a somber meditation on fate, religion, love, loss, and family into the mix. This is not a straightforward look at said subjects. Instead, Leiser goes the tone poem route, revising his plot with pictures and proposals. He never fully gives away his motives, and this then becomes one of Imagination's undeniable strengths.

I was privileged to be able to enjoy this beautifully crafted film, screened at Aarhus Festival of Independent Arts in Denmark.

The story begins and revolves around the enigmatic twins, Anna and Sarah, whose parents contact Dr. Reineger to conduct a research regarding visions they see. A big part of the film is animated, mostly with stop-motion technique, by Eric Leiser, which combined with the absolutely terrific atmospheric score by Jeffrey Leiser creates an unique viewing pleasure. These imagination scenes are also often the force that further allows the unfolding of the multi-layered plot.

I was amazed by the animation and music alone, but on top of that, director Leiser has also created an enjoyable viewing experience, which I hope will meet many many audience members in the future.

Warmly recommended!

I like to think I can appreciate visual art and modern art, but not in a feature film like this. I like good movies with compelling characters and a riveting story, and this had neither.

Artistic sequences were interesting for a few seconds, but I felt like they dragged on for WAY too long. The filmmakers needed an outsider to serve as editor because some of these scenes, even ones without art or special effects, went on way too long. There is one scene with the doctor tossing and turning in the white sheets of his bed for what seems like five minutes.

The acting is horrible. I was very distracted because the adult actors did not bring any realism to their emotions, which should have been compelling considering the circumstances of raising children with asperger's syndrome. Instead, it was extremely flat and stilted, and none of the character's feelings or emotions were conveyed to me in any way that made me care about the characters.

Some people will like this film, but I don't think they will like it for its story or as a feature film. I was very disappointed and extremely bored throughout, which I found surprising because usually I am easily pleased.

In "imagination", Sarah and Anna Woodruff (played by Jessi and Nikki Haddad, respectively) are twin sisters who confound everyone around them. Their father is distant and eventually leaves the family. Their mother (Courtney Sanford) is anxious and frantic for answers. And a child neurologist (Ed K. Gildersleeve) who initially diagnosed Anna with a rare form of autism isn't so sure. Sarah- who's near blind- and Anna live within their own world, a shared imagination that includes prophetic dreams and visions. They are almost the same person in a way, occasionally speaking in unison, rarely separated from one another. When tragedy strikes, the doctor is left with more questions than answers. I'll admit to being a little confused as to what the film is about. What I can clearly state is that it is a representation of the closeness some siblings- and twins in particular- share with one another (something I would imagine Eric Leiser, who directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay with his brother/composer Jeffrey, knows much about). At first I thought we might be watching an exploration into the gifted minds of the two sisters, and how their respective disabilities work to enhance such gifts, which in itself would be an interesting story. After a while, however, the film seemed to morph into a look inwards at how faith guides us into our eventual destination in life, and while that may be the best description I can give of the film, it doesn't account necessarily for the almost supernatural aspect of the film, as evident in both the storytelling method and the ambiguous ending. One of the things that struck me as particular inspired about the film was how well Leiser didn't allow the obvious budgetary limitations get in the way of telling the story as best he could (it helps that he gets an assist from his brother Jeffrey on the music, which helps propel the narrative forward, even if it's not terribly subtle). In a way, the film benefits from the limitations, using low-budget effects like high-speed photography, stop-motion animation, and photographic and sound effects to put us very much in Sarah and Anna's world. (Of particular note is how Leiser makes us feel, convincingly, that an earthquake is taking place through simple camera and sound tricks.) Many times the film reminded me of Michel Gondry's lovely "The Science of Sleep" from last year in such touches, and although it isn't on solid enough ground thematically to compare to that film in overall quality, it does make for a distinctly endearing quality that will benefit the film on multiple viewings. This is my first experience with Leiser's work- he's an established veteran of a couple of features now and many shorts in the independent film community- and was, on the whole, impressed by what I saw in "imagination" (he emailed me recently in the interest of getting a review from the site). His film- which has played at a few festivals and has video distribution lined up for a February 2008 DVD release- is a thoughtful and imaginative work, and will play well for anyone looking for something beyond the usual by-the-numbers explorations at the mysteries of life, even if I wasn't completely clear as to what the film's final point was.