albigenzen Every once and awhile, a treasure emerges seemingly out of nowhere. IMAGINATION is one of those treasures. This film explores the realm of the autistic mind in a way that is creative, artistic, and filled with depth, while at the same time touching a strong thread of realism. Having worked as a music therapist with a number of cerebral challenged children and adults, I have a strong appreciation for this film. I was moved at director Eric Leiser's ability to take the audience on a journey through the minds of the subjects in this film. I would recommend this film to anyone seeking to understand the many facets of the human mind, and the depth of the human spirit. Imagination is a genuine work of serious art from the unique mix of media and, I must add beautiful soundtrack by Jeffrey Leiser.

jasonmammon Imagination is a collaborative experimental film effort by brothers Eric and Jeffrey Leiser, which combines hand-drawn animation, stop-motion puppet animation, pixilation, and time-lapse techniques (by director/animator Eric) with a haunting musical score (by composer Jeffrey). They co-wrote the story about a neuro-psychologist's attempts to understand two twin girls: Anna, who is diagnosed with a rare form of autism called Asperger's, and Sarah, who is diagnosed as legally blind. The girls connect with each other through the realm of their imaginations, expressed through surreal animated imagery. Most of the film consists of using these abstract dreamscapes to show a window into how the girls experience their world, and other dialogue scenes of the psychologist with the girls' parents tie the story together.The idea behind this film resonated with me personally, given that I am not only a stop-motion animator, but also have a younger brother with autism. Many autistic children, such as those my mother works with as a special education teacher, are non-verbal, but my brother Jonathan is of a higher functioning kind, very similar to Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man. I often wish I could enter my brother's brain and see how differently he sees the world around him, so I appreciate how Imagination uses animation to suggest this very idea. Leiser's animation, inspired by the work of Czech stop-motion legend Jan Svankmeyer, also resonates with spiritual symbolism, including the recurring appearance of a white fawn or stag. The white stag is a traditional symbol of Christ which hearkens back to the medieval myth of St. Eustace, and has been alluded to in contemporary myths like Narnia and the Harry Potter series. In my own experience with autism, I believe that there is a direct connection these children have which possibly brings them into a very close intimacy with the spiritual realm. It's possible, in my view, that people with autism and Asperger's have keys to certain doors in the human brain that for the rest of us are simply locked. (My brother, on occasion, used to wander around the house repeating to himself that "Jesus Christ is the Son of God." To him, though he may not understand the theological implications behind this, it's simply a fact that he understands in his own way…I often wonder if he understands it better than the rest of us.)

dbborroughs Strange tale of a doctor investing the odd link between two girls, twins, who seem to have the same way of seeing things even though one is blind. As the girls world view becomes more powerful their father leaves and the mother is forced to cope alone, until she is killed in an earthquake, at which point the doctor is forced to take over care of the girls.Strange, often pretentious, film doesn't really work. The film is trying very hard to get at something which mostly seems to just be outside its reach. I think part of the problem is that the unevenness of the cast works against the film with only the doctor and the twins really having any presence. The poorness of filming of the dialog scenes doesn't help either. Honestly as a drama it really doesn't work even on its own unique terms.What does work, and the reason to try the film, is the animated and visually arresting special effects scenes which manage to keep you watching even when the rest of the film doesn't seem to be going anywhere. The marriage of music and image is often quite stunning.The film is a worth a look if you want to see visual form over content. However if you're looking for a compelling drama I'd look elsewhere.

tipani I was privileged to be able to enjoy this beautifully crafted film, screened at Aarhus Festival of Independent Arts in Denmark.The story begins and revolves around the enigmatic twins, Anna and Sarah, whose parents contact Dr. Reineger to conduct a research regarding visions they see. A big part of the film is animated, mostly with stop-motion technique, by Eric Leiser, which combined with the absolutely terrific atmospheric score by Jeffrey Leiser creates an unique viewing pleasure. These imagination scenes are also often the force that further allows the unfolding of the multi-layered plot.I was amazed by the animation and music alone, but on top of that, director Leiser has also created an enjoyable viewing experience, which I hope will meet many many audience members in the future.Warmly recommended!