Imagination

This film is about the unbounded dreams and imagination of two twin sisters, one is blind while the other has Asperger's Syndrome.

I was hoping for a touching drama about people with disabilities, how parents deal with it, how the children express themselves, being happy despite the circumstances etc. It turns out that none of my expectations were met. Instead, "Imagination" turns out to be an imaginative and artistic piece that belongs more to a modern art museum than the big screen. It looks more like a collage of artistic slips stitched together. There is really no plot, as the so called plot only serves as the backdrop of the artistic clips.

If you like modern art, then you will appreciate this film. If not, you will find it a big mess and a waste of time.

Former Spongebob Squarepants prop animator Eric Leiser explores his passion for his baccalaureate major field of experimental animation with this three year effort co-written with his brother, the composer and poet Jeffrey Leiser. In this haunting work which should be of particular interest to students specializing in the various techniques of film animation, Eric Leiser draws upon his vast experience and melds together puppetry, stop-motion sketches, camera trickery and claymation that dazzles the senses and makes the live action sequences pale in comparison. Employing a story that trips the mind fantastic, the brothers craft a tale which centers on two medically challenged twin sisters who are brought in for neuropsychological testing by Dr. Reineger (Ed K. Gildersleeve) when young Anna Woodruff (Nikki Haddad) is viewed as a likely candidate for Asperger's Syndrome. After their mother worries about the sisters' increasingly tight bond and their tendency to disappear into the far reaches of their imaginations, Anna's twin Sarah (Jessi Haddad) is brought in for the study after she is found to be legally blind—a condition that the optometrist predicts will worsen with time. The melancholy plot is elevated by bursts of clever animations that creep around every corner along with the sweeping score by Jeffrey Leiser that is so impressive one wonders if there will be an option on the upcoming DVD to isolate the superior music and visuals since they show off the Leisers' considerable talent in their chosen areas. However, the existential questioning that permeates the fascinatingly chilly first half of the film soon evolves into a spiritual crisis for the doctor that doesn't quite synch with the beginning which had called to mind the imagination run amok and lurking foreshadowing of sadness to follow evidenced in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures. Still, the proposal of the two twins unifying into one with a psychic connection is a creative idea sure to intrigue devotees of Philip K. Dick's phantom twin motif and surrealist film fans along with lovers of animation in every form. Imagination, which was an official selection at the Tel Aviv Film Festival, the Istanbul International Animation Festival in Turkey and played in select screenings in the states, is set to be released by Vanguard International Cinema on DVD on February 26 of next year.

(Film Intuition Blog)

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.

visionary indie artfilm offers disjointed scenes of great imagination: "Imagination" is bold and excellent personal spiritual art; many sights and sounds are utterly magical and memorably symbolic. However this doesn't mean the film can satisfy commercial standards, or even that many art house audiences will be able to enjoy it. The hauntingly original animation and varied dreamlike music, which complement each other well and remain sincerely accessible throughout, do ensure a certain level of general appreciation. Students of film will admire techniques combining stop motion puppets, drawn animation, time lapse, and more. It's the other problems that will push away mainstream viewers, including amateurish live acting (poor casting decisions were clearly made, though the girls are sweet and the psychiatrist is passable), naive non-credible scripting (much better dialogue was needed to set up a doctor who gets custody of recently orphaned special-needs children in an stark alienating lab), and unimpressive uneven cinematography. Truly the soul doesn't care about such flaws and limitations, since spiritual growth is all about sincerity and hitting the high points, which this film has in abundance. There are scenes that will stay with you, especially those set in the mythic woods of eyed trees that was previously released in a stand-alone short called "Forest". Unlike Hollywood, the soul cares about quality rather than quantity. If an artwork has even just an audience of one that is deeply touched, then it will resonate to endure and change the universe forever. In this regard, Imagination is tremendously successful.

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.