World premiere: 11 March, 2011, Poland
Even from that singularly weak-kneed plot synopsis (at a measly 79 minutes, George the Hedgehog nevertheless has one of the most all-around insanely dense plots that I have encountered in quite a while, possibly because it is the summary of several individual graphic novels), you can get a sense of the intellectual underpinnings that make this film more than just a series of gags surrounding a roughly-animated, sex-crazed hedgehog cursing in Polish. Quite a lot comes in for examination: the way that the internet has democratised society by turning everything into a race for the lowest-common denominator; the eternal pursuit of "the youth market" by politicians and executives whose understanding of what young people actually think is laughably undernourished; the over-sexed, hyper-masculine stock figures held up as exemplars of behavior by a debased popular culture; and that's on top of more general things like nationalist xenophobia, the intersection between love and fucking, and the rest. In fact, so much passes beneath the filmmakers' microscope, that the whole thing ends up being too manic and overstuffed for its own good: at some point, George the Hedgehog is no longer satirising its subjects, so much as it's running through a checklist of things to mock for a half of a scene.
And yet, it's partially because it's overstuffed that the movie has such ebullient energy: like watching a child with ADHD, George the Hedgehog is both terrifying and exhilarating by turns, as it darts from idea to idea with a massive surplus of energy. Even when it makes no sense as a narrative and falls back on the broadest scatological and sexual jokes to supplement its satiric edge when the going gets rough, the film is a blast of the best sort of cartoon energy, where you never really know from moment to moment where things are going, and yet the trip there is so giddy that you stop caring after a point.
That's equally true of the animation as it is of the script. Based directly on the comics, the cartoon is done in a very peculiar form of silhouette animation - technically, silhoutte animation is exactly the wrong way of putting it, given that the shapes are full visible, but the sense of watching component parts moving almost as though they are cut-outs is ever-present. I can make things easier with the aid of a visual.
I'm at something of a loss to say exactly what that is: a little bit of Flash, a little bit of the modular style of South Park. The important part is that it permits the animators to maintain the very distinctive graphic style of individually-shaded drawings, without the intense color saturation of cel-animation (to say nothing of the dimensionality of CGI, which would look inconceivably horrid here). The least you can say is that it leaves George the Hedgehog looking fairly unconventional, even in an age when there seems to be nothing else new to do with animation; and the best you can say is that the look of the film gives it the fleshy edge of an underground comic (since that is almost exactly what it is), and it's surprising enough that the imagery doesn't only reinforce the narrative's gonzo sensibility, it's an intrinsic part of how the film keeps up its warped energy. The freshness of the visuals has worn off by the time the film is over, mind you, and like the rest of the film, there comes a point where the bizarre images stop being so meaningful and start to be joyfully grotesque for the sake of it.
Yet, if form needs to follow content, it makes sense that a film of this sort would be so wildly undisciplined, and the exact elements that keep George the Hedgehog from being an especially electrifying curiosity are precisely what gives it most of its personality. It is, perhaps, no better than being a nervy little cult movie, but - this is the important part - it's no less than that, either.
7/10
Sounds like it has a lot in common with Fritz the Cat. True?
ReplyDeleteYou know, I've never actually seen Fritz the Cat, but it definitely fits in with what I've heard about that film. If I'd had more time this week, I actually meant to watch it before I wrote this review. C'est la vie.
ReplyDeleteFrom somebody who lived in Poland and read the comic LONG before the movie was made...
ReplyDeleteI had very mix fillings about it.
(BY THE WAY - Truth to be told it ISN'T adaptation of the comic. It's a brand new story line written by the creator of the comics, there are only few jokes and story elements actually re-used from the strip, the rest of material is brand new in fact some people I know complain that the movie dependents to much on viewer already knowing the characters )
First of all - While I love the design of the movie and the way it captures feel of present day Poland I hate the animation and it's movement. At times it looks nice when the characters are just sitting talking, but whenever there is action it's just look lame and cheap, if not bizzar in a bad kind of way. It was way to distracting to the very end. Now, in something like "South Park" it works since the design of the characters is already simplistic. Here - it's way to complex looking. It just doesn't match. Either they such make character design look more simple or spent more time on the animation. I guess it make the movie feel original but I honestly didn't like it.
I have similar problems with the script. I think there are some good lines, character base humor and satirical bites but the way story moves it's just way to forced and I just don't find the main premise that funny or interesting and not all jokes worked for me well. For example somewhere around the third act the movie is trying to make a commentary how Polish people get easly amused by toilet humor and low brown stuff... a point on which I would agree on... if the movie didn't spent the first 2/3 feed viewer with doses of very low brown jokes. I just find it hypercritical rather then ironic. In fact as you pointed out it didn't felt like the movie had a main theme as much check list of various topical jokes it wanted to make and it felt random at times or forced.
Also (unlike the books) I found main characters - Jerzy and his girlfriend Yola very unsympathethic characters. In fact the main character barely do anything during the first 2/3 of the film which isn't good. His more of a tool then a character him. True, many Jeż Jerzy comis focus more on world around Jerzy rather then his character but it didn't work well here.
For me the best part was subplot when one of the racist skinheads learns that his friend has a black brother. Now as a stand alone short this would be great, but here it's comes up so lat and is so detached from the rest of the movie it' feels like something they thrown in in the last minutes.
So overall I think the movie has some good points but as a whole is just way to big mess for me and some parts are painful to watch (and I love the original comics which is a shame it was written by the same people - what was great in few pages of comics just don't work well when it's trying to be a full movie narrative)
I'm loving your recent spate of comments! Great to have some context from somebody who knows more about the culture involved than I could ever pray to, and I'm especially fascinated by your thoughts here. My knowledge of the character was and is completely limited to this film, so learning more about the background of the film and its limitations as an adaptation is absolutely terrific. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou welcome :)
ReplyDeleteThe original "Jeż Jerzy" comics where Publish in the "Ślizg" magazine (between 1995 and 2007) which was dedicated to hip-hip and skate board culture. The episodes where usually 1-2 pages long and simple (eg. Jeży goes to the park to drink, skinheads try to beat him up, something wacky happens, the end) The stories where very carefree, much more absurd and while the current Poland world was shown in a fun house mirror it never felt like two creators had some political agenda or where going after some groups. It was just showing world around us in a funny, abrusdish way and in many respects it was as much celebrating it as much mocking it (looking back it was a bit like a time capsule of Poland in the 90's) Reading the strips you could just imagine the authors siting in a room cracking jokes at each other as they where coming up which each new episode. The first 5-6 volumes collecting original comics are lot of fun and I had nostalgia for it...
But sadly somewhere down the line (after 2003's) it lost a lot of it's original "wackyness" and simplistic charm in favor of much more heavy political satire (maybe creators became to self-aware?) and they started making the world around Jerzy more realistic. Also the stories became much longer and complex but rather they use this space to add more jokes it was used more to add more dramatic tension, action, atmosphere etc. In my opinion it just felt like the comic develop in a wrong direction, like it was trying to pretend it was something it's not. Luckily they did know where to stop and ended Jerzy.
I was quite a surprise that they got complete control over this project since as far I can tell at the time they had little to no background in animation. Still - while I didn't like this movie to much I had a lot of respect for them both for Jerzy and their other comic strip "Tymek i Mistrz" (Tymek and the Master) which is aimed at children. I had to chance to meet them and they appeared to be very nice guys (...and I have an original drawing of Stefan and Zenek the skinheads - YES! ;) )
They are currently switch from comics to animation, working on animated series base on "Tymek and Mistrz" and creating a CGI movie base on another Polish comic book "Smok Diplodok" (created by difrent artis - Tadeusz Baranowski) so I wonder how it will go :)