Alternative Animation Week!

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Flee (2021)

With the upcoming release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, a film with stylized animation reminiscent of colored pencils in a school notebook, we wanted to discuss some of our favorite unique animated films.

They may be unique for their animation style, or in the case of today's film, how the animation is deployed for a narrative or stylistic reason. For our first film, we’re looking at a documentary of all things. So let’s dive in!

Animated? Documentary? Dah fu?

Animated documentaries are very uncommon, but not unheard of with works like Waltz With Bashir and Brett Morgen’s Chicago 10.

So why would they do this? Well, the main reason director Jonas Poher Rasmussen gives is for the sake of anonymity. Amin, the subject of the film, is still in hiding and having the film be animated gives another layer of protection of Amin’s identity while also giving its audience something to look at beyond just a silhouette.

The animation really gives a flexibility and comfort that you just will never be able to get from bulky cameras pointing at you all the time.

Why You Gotta Watch!

The film is structured to let us see Amin living his best life and answering questions we also getting flashbacks narrated by Amin. The fact that the entire feature is animated really helps draw you in. Since the avatar of our protagonist is himself animated, it immerses its audience in his story.

It’s similar but different to My Old School, a film which cuts from a live action avatar in the form of the great Alan Cumming to animation anytime a story is told, but draws attention to its own style in a way that can be quite abrasive.

Flee for as hard as its content is, is also a rather warm watch. For example, today's clip is the ultimate “warm bath” scene from the film apart from the conversations between Amin and his partner Kasper.

It comes towards the end of the film and is a wonderfully cathartic moment to leave you on. We don’t normally show you the conclusion of a movie's arc, but when the subject matter is this heavy and (obviously) real, it is nice to have the knowledge going in that it’s all alright.

Today’s Scene