Metaphor mounts to Matterhorn in the marvellous animated movie, ROBOT DREAMS.
A study in companionship, of friendship fostered and lost, an amalgam of intellect and emotion, ROBOT DREAMS is about accepting and recovering from loss.
Based on the graphic novel by Sara Varon, ROBOT DREAMS has been adapted for the cinema by superb Spanish cineast, Pablo Berger.
Set in 1980s NYC, ROBOT DREAMS is the story of Dog, a lonely canine who builds himself a robot for companionship. Their friendship flourishes as they embark on adventures (and misadventures) across the city, from taking the subway to Chinatown to roller skating in Central Park.
These simple pleasures, so often taken for granted, are celebrated in this film, and made all the powerfully poignant when they cease. Suddenly, a day at the beach turns sunny Summer to bitter Winter when the pair are separated. Dog, devastated, does everything in his power to reunite with Robot. Time and tide take their toll.
The graphic style of both the graphic novel and the film ROBOT DREAMS derives from the “Ligne Claire” style, with origins in the French-Belgian school of Hergé, the author of Tintin. It is characterised by a narrative way of representing reality using continuous clean lines, flat colours and limited shadows. José Luis Ágreda art director creates an impeccable palette of colours and contrasts for the characters and their environs.
A film without dialogue, ROBOT DREAMS is certainly not a silent movie. Alfonso de Vilallonga, an eclectic, surprising composer, with a prodigious capacity for creating music full of emotion, feelings and rhythm, accompanies the visuals in ROBOT DREAMS with delicate piano melodies and cool jazz, a very New York urban sound.
The film’s sound design is a jungle of sound. From domestic environments and noises to the loud, bustling streets of the different neighbourhoods in NYC. The sound design for Robot Dreams is the third dimension of this 2D animation, a sonic triumph for Fabiola Ordoyo.
Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the recent Academy Awards, ROBOT DREAMS is an endearing, heart rendering cinematic experience.