If you have walked through the tunnels around residence in Carleton you have seen a still of Don Hertzfeldt’s work. A stick figure with an oversized spoon and a banana with human limbs stare dumbly out at you, both Hertzfeldt’s creations from a short called Rejected. Hertzfeldt’s first feature film, It’s Such a Beautiful Day was screened Sept. 19 at Empire Theatres—and will be screened again Sept. 21 at the Bytowne Cinema—as part of the Ottawa International Animation Festival’s feature competition.
Hertzfeldt’s style is simple and distinct. He uses black lines to create stick figures that interact on a two-dimensional plane. The style is played with towards the end of the film with live action shots spliced under animation and picture stills manipulated with characters over and in them.
It’s Such a Beautiful Day is a trilogy of three short films brought together to make one narrative. The story features a man named Bill who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and experiences hallucinations. Bill’s reality is tenuous at best and his memory worsens throughout the film. The majority of Bill’s dialogue in the film is an internal monologue. The film gives us a window into his psyche—the viewer only knows as much as Bill chooses to reveal.
It’s Such a Beautiful Day gets its power through understatement. Laying out Bill’s mind for the audience to explore allows for fan theories of what could be wrong with the character. Throughout this exploration the film never loses its charm or sense of twisted humour. As much as the audience is encouraged to muse about illness, we were also asked to laugh at the absurdities of life. These gags ground the story, but also make the tragic events even sadder.
Hertzfeldt has punctuated his film with music, visuals, and a story that elevates and destroys the audience at the right moments. It is hypnotic, funny, clever, and a little melancholy. This is not a traditional feature film but I would encourage even those wary of experimental art to try it out.
