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The Lost Thing
Set in a grimy, highly mechanised Orwellian
megalopolis, 15-minute short The Lost Thing revolves around a
young, nameless boy. Whilst out collecting bottle tops he stumbles
across the eponymous ‘Thing’, a giant mechanical creature that does
indeed appear to be lost. The fearsome looking giant turns out to be
quite friendly, and a bond quickly forms between the unlikely pair. By
the feature’s denouement we discover the world the boy inhabits is not
entirely as grim as it appears, and for all the hints of Kafka, Tim
Burton, Hieronymus Bosch and Eric Blair a happy ending, of sorts,
ensues.
A curious musing on the nature of
friendship and a thoughtful ode to those daring enough to gaze
unflinchingly at the things unnoticed by others, The Lost Thing
is a superbly executed piece of CG wizardry. The animation is truly
stunning, and though comedian Tim Minchin is perhaps better suited to
crooning songs about YouTube and loving Jesus his surprisingly earnest
narration compliments the piece nicely.
Based on the acclaimed picture books by
co-director Shaun Tan, this sprightly, multifaceted short defies easy
interpretation. The modest runtime doesn’t exactly allow its numerous
weighty themes to be explored to completion, but sufficient mysterious
beauty permeates throughout to ensure the film remains fresh and
compelling upon repeat viewings. A strange, stunning gem, and one of
the most striking Australian animated shorts of recent memory.
Audio & Video
The transfer is an anamorphically enhanced
16:9 widescreen, and it’s truly superb. Not only is the animation
itself world class, but the picture quality is faultless and colour
palette, when it comes into play, vibrant beyond belief. The multitude
of imaginative mechanoids that inhabit this odd alternate reality are
pretty genius too. The principal audio track is a 5.1 surround which
effectively highlight both Minchin’s narration and Michael Yezerski’s
brooding, accomplished score.
Special Features
As is to be expected with a feature running
a quarter of an hour, the set is crammed with all manner of bonus
features. The handsome cardboard packaging houses not only the film
itself, but a great tie-in book from Tan entitled ‘Which Miscellaneous
Abnormality is That?’ – a hardcover hand drawn compendium of weird and
wondrous creatures including the ‘narcoleptic fable furnace’ and the
presumably insatiable ‘luminous sugar seeker.’ On the disc itself we
have separate audio commentaries from Tan and fellow director Andrew
Ruhemann, Deleted Scenes, Featurettes, comparisons with the book’s
original artwork, insights into the CGI, an interview with Tan and
more. A bumper haul, and an excellent companion to the film itself. |
