Posted: 04/25/2005

Strings

(2005)

by Kevin Holmes

“We cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.” — Carl Jung

This film opened in the U.K. in April.

Set in a mythological land populated by marionette puppets a city is locked in Marshal Law and a Prince is on a quest to avenge his father’s death. From this simple premise a story of intrigue, exploration and self-discovery unfolds and while it may not be the most original fantasy story ever told, its realisation is remarkable. Choosing, as it does, the neglected and often-beautiful medium of marionette puppetry the film is executed in a refreshingly innovative way with an elaborately constructed puppet cosmos where the design and form of the individual puppets reflect their social background and personal history.

This idea is the basis of the film and sets it apart from the usual children’s fantasy tale thus giving it a rather unique take on the genre. The attention to detail and the care with which the puppets have been created and animated are so meticulous that they are a joy to watch, it’s the greatest acting a piece of timber has done since Roger Moore was James Bond and it will please both the young and the not-so-young alike. It is refreshing indeed to see a filmmaker choose such a rarely used medium and create, not only an appealing and engaging film, but also one so atypical in its attitudes and techniques.

As the name of the film may suggest the strings attached to the puppets are integral to the characters themselves and rather than try to hide the fact that these are puppets Ronnow-Klarlund embraces the idea and runs with the implications. Every set of strings continues from the puppet’s body up into the skies above where each is interconnected; a great Jungian metaphor for the interconnectedness of all things adding to the philosophical underpinnings of the film. Many ideas and notions are confronted and explored as the film raises questions of ownership, our place in the world and how conflict often arises from misunderstanding and misrepresentation rather than any real antipathy for the alleged enemy. Characters aren’t who they seem and the idea of illusion and disillusion are addressed as we, along with Prince Hal (James McAvoy), begin to realise the enemy isn’t quite what it seems.

Different puppets are made from different materials, the soldiers being mass-produced from timber while Prince Hal is gold. The Princes servants have ill-fitting parts to show their status and the wood the servants baby is made from is weeping, giving the desired effect that these people are poor and cannot afford to renew their old and languishing bodies. Other puppets have been characteristically burned and scraped and most puppets were put through the cornerstone of any nutritious elemental magic - earth, wind and fire (no not the band) to gain the desired lived-in look. So they really are weathered in you might say, which all helps to sharpen Ronnow-’s vision. The production design is superb, the world they inhabit being orientated around them; every set has been painstakingly designed so that it reflects what a world would look like if marionette puppets inhabited it. Each marionettes existence is tied-up (forgive the pun) with the strings that support them, each having a thread attached to their head that, once severed, brings about their end; for them it’s farvel, as they say in Danish. Ronnow-Klarlund’s playful attitude in many ways capitalises on the idea, which really helps to immerse and engage the viewer into this imagined and sometimes starkly realised world.

While the final resolution might not be groundbreaking in it’s conception, the film raises valid philosophical and political ideas that are pertinent and contemporaneous. The microcosm world that the puppets inhabit is a reflection of our own, displaying the perplexity and uncertainty that we often find ourselves in, both politically and individually in the face of the macrocosm. It doesn’t take any moral high ground either - something common in stories aimed at children - instead showing how problems are more ambiguous than at first thought. The stories simplicity is there so that we can dwell on the bigger issues that are raised by the film and not find ourselves overwhelmed by the complexities of the fable.

The film is a remarkable achievement and a refreshing break from the torrent of CGI animated features that fire at us like a tommy gun. I really do recommend this film, once the uncanny shock of seeing wooden puppets with no mouths wears off, you will be in for an aesthetic and philosophical treat, what the story lacks in originality, the production makes up for in innovation. I’ve got wood.

Kevin Holmes is a film critic living London, England.

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