Movie Review - Ruben Brandt, Collector

Ruben Brandt, Collector **** (out of 5) (R) Even if you watch this animated Hungarian crime drama without the sound or subtitles, your eyes will be dazzled by the unique array of images. But you’d miss an engrossing story about the eponymous shrink who is plagued by nightmares that emanate from a number of famous paintings. Since his practice focuses on rehabilitating criminals with a version of art therapy, he links up with several of his grateful patients in a global series of museum heists. Their working theory is that owning the paintings that haunt him will give him power over them, and end the debilitating nightmares.

Enough about the plot. The characters are a fascinating assortment of surreal, neo-Cubist creations. Most faces are as elongated as a horse’s; some have third eyes; other bodies have multiple heads; no one looks like anyone you know. Despite those distortions, Mimi, the agile femme fatale of the crew, comes off as the sexiest ‘toon since Jessica Rabbit. In stark contrast, many exterior backdrops are as gracefully idyllic as those of Hayao Miyazaki’s award-winning features for Japan’s Studio Ghibli (Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, among others that successfully crossed the Pacific). Other settings are ominous enough for Alfred Hitchcock. Kudos to writer/director Milorad Krstic for masterfully combining such diverse elements into a new kind of treat.

This is a film for grown-ups, so leave the kids at home. The visual feast includes a truly stunning chase sequence that’s almost worth the ticket price on its own. It’s one of the few that seem worthy of multiple viewings. I wonder if there’s more logic to the odd ways the characters are drawn that matches or reveals their natures than I was able to appreciate from one screening. Besides that, it’s just plain cool. (3/1/19)