A hypnotic filmmaker with a hypnotic musician - it's got to work, right?
Director Paul Thomas Anderson, best known for his cinematic offerings such as Magnolia, The Master, and Phantom Thread, has a great deal of experience with creating music videos. PTA has worked with the likes of HAIM, Fiona Apple, and of course, Radiohead.
He is also exceptionally good at matching great film scores to his features, with Radiohead's own Jonny Greenwood providing the perfect stylish accompaniment to his Gothic fashion romance Phantom Thread.
This time around for Anima (Carl Jung's term for the unconscious feminine side of men that transcends the psyche), PTA teams up with Greenwood's bandmate Thom Yorke - fresh from his own cinematic jaunt with the melancholic soundtrack for Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria remake - for a short film to accompany a selection of tracks from the musician.
It is essentially an extended music video, but what intriguing imagery it evokes!
Tapping into a torturous daily struggle in the capitalist hamster wheel, Yorke delivers some much-needed romanticism to a pessimistic surrounding, wonderfully complimenting the electronic but haunting quality of the tracks alongside avant-garde interpretive dance.
Evoking shades of George Orwell’s 1984 with its depiction of physical intimacy and love amongst a grey and sterile world, Anima is certainly an interesting piece of short filmmaking, but many general audiences may find it too symbolic and abstract to enjoy.
If you’re a Radiohead fan though, you’ll probably love hearing Yorke’s latest work accompanied by an artistic visual treat.
Anima also proves that Netflix is continuing to experiment with different forms of content to deliver to their audience. And who would turn down working with creative minds like these?
Verdict
This abstract but romantic piece makes Anima ideal for fans of Paul Thomas Anderson and Thom Yorke but general audiences viewing on Netflix may wonder what they just watched.
Anima is available on Netflix from June 27, 2019.
