The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello

This was a wonderful film visually--with an artistry and style that were truly unique. The machines and people are created in an unusual fashion--using mostly sepia tones and blacks as well as never showing details of the people's faces. Instead, the people are very reminiscent of Asian shadow puppets. You really just need to see it to understand how unusual this all looks--but it sure is very striking.

The story takes place in an alternate reality--a planet where steam-powered flying machines are common. Additionally, there is a bizarre plague breaking out and this, combined with the shadows and colors, creates a truly dark story. Making it worse, the story itself if very cold and creepy--truly macabre.

If you can get past how weird and disturbing it all is, then you'll probably love this film. I didn't particularly enjoy all the death, but because of the artistry and vision I still strongly recommend it to viewers with a relatively open mind.

This film, by the way, is very similar in spirit to another animated short, THE PERIWIG-MAKER (1999)--both having a theme that revolves around plague and both films are amazingly beautiful but dark.