Description

A malformed cat, desperately longing to be human, lives in a well and hunts people to steal their body parts. A frail man, aged to the brink of collapse, obsesses over a photograph of himself taken many years ago. He often watches his neighbour through a rotting hole in the wall and happens to be observing her at the moment that she decides to hang herself. In the shadow of her death, ghastly and beautiful metaphysical events begin to occur. Siamese twins are surgically separated in their youth, leading each to a lifetime of spiritual agony until a freak accident suggests a final route to happiness. An introverted eight-year-old boy has a quiet epiphany when he finds a severed animal�s head in his backyard and takes it home.
These are the premises of four predominantly stop-motion animated shorts from one of the most visionary genre filmmakers working today. His name is Robert Morgan, he hails from Great Britain, and chances are, due to the sorry state of short-film distribution, you have yet to hear of him (though Fantasians might have seen The Separation and Monsters when they screened here). Morgan�s shorts are surreal mini-epics of inner crisis and morbid grotesqueries. Each captures the essence of a child�s fascination with death, deformity and decay, and merges it with the dark, philosophical ponderings and fears of adults in their most shattered state. Imagine a fusion between the sensibilities of David Cronenberg, Tim Burton, Clive Barker and the Quays, and you�ll have a partial idea of the sheer brilliance of this man�s work. To date, the only way to encounter the nightmare universe of Morgan�s shorts has been on the film-festival circuit, where they have amassed a legion of breathless fans amongst audiences and critics alike. They seem to win prizes whenever screened, The Separation alone having won no fewer than 15, including one at Fantasia. Needless to say, these are films of enormous emotional force that demand to be seen as Big Screen Experiences. With this in mind, we are proud to be showcasing Robert Morgan�s complete filmography in one special block, hosted by the man himself. If you�ve not yet seen any of his films, you cannot let yourself miss this. If you have, we don�t doubt that you will be the first in line for this rare opportunity. Expect to leave with extensive psychic bruising.

—Mitch Davis (contains excerpts from an article written by the author which originally appeared in Rue Morgue Magazine)

"Genius! Nothing less. Think of Tim Burton at his best making claymation Far Side Cartoons designed by Clive Barker and you only begin to scratch at the surface of what kind of dark magic Robert Morgan conjures with his camera. But my description does him no justice, I make him sound like an imitator and he is not. Morgan’s work is fresh and thrilling to watch. You never know what you’re going to see, only that it’s going to amaze you.If you’re within a 4 hour drive of Montreal, you MUST go see this. One day, when Morgan is finally recognized worldwide as the incredible artist he is, you’ll be able to say you were there and that you saw the man in person before anyone else knew about him." - Jeremy Knox, FILM THREAT (from Fantasia 2006 preview piece)

Website

http://www.animusfilms.co.uk/robertmorga

Credits

Director: Robert Morgan
Screenplay: Robert Morgan
Cast: Jack Daly, Jessica Ashworth, Livy Armstrong, Daniel Hogwood-Kane
Producers: Sylvie Bringas
Distributor: Animus Films

Screens with...

Torchbearer, The Svetlonos North american Premiere Czech republic 2005 | 25 min