Midlands Review of Blather - The Series - Rutger Hauer
midlandsmovies • September 13, 2021
Blather - The Series: Rutger Hauer
Directed by James Pyle
2021
LEFTLION is a monthly magazine that has been publishing features about all the cool goings-on in Nottingham since 2003. From local literature to “interviews with people who review public toilets”, the magazine certainly comes from left-field in its creative content.
But this has helped it develop an eclectic buzz in the city with one of their most recent features being “Blather” - a short collection of brain-ramblings. And it’s this series of rants that has been turned into a set of short films from different Nottingham creatives.
This new animation from regional filmmaker James Pyle is one of the offerings. James has taken the style of the original drawings (other filmmakers have shot the “blathers” as live-action) and animated them which keeps its hand-drawn aesthetic – and its purity somewhat – intact.
Originally written by Adrian Reynolds and illustrated by Corrina Rothwell, the short visualises their particular “blather” as a set of sequences which relate to each line of dialogue.
The narrator (James Pyle himself) explains how a friend read a book by that “Blade Runner guy” that suggests we are all in “prisons”. The Blade Runner guy being the author Philip K Dick but confusion leads to the suggestion of Rutger Hauer (one of the stars of the film) hence the short’s title.
With that set up, the narrator hints that his friend wouldn’t suggest that if he knew anything about the harsh realities of prison. The comparison between robot guards (cue R2-D2 style droid with policeman’s hat on) and flying cars with the real-life issues of poor diet, poverty, health and larger society issues draw attention to the point he's making.
Despite the weighty words, Pyle uses his simple animation to bring them to life with pathos and comedy. And there’s a regional flavour with reference to the city’s Hockley area and the words “that telly arse” - a phrase that had me laughing a lot.
The mix of politics and incredibly fun use of language somewhat echoes Chris Morris’ previous work on The Day Today and Brass Eye. The “quack handle” of Morris has been replaced with witty wordplay like “bloke in double-denim giving it some on the fiddle” and the combination of words and images leads to the film's success.
With Pyle’s great delivery of the “blather” and the straightforward but fun animation, the short film is a worthy 2-minutes of anyone’s time. It only seems a shame then that Pyle won’t get to tackle any more of these as his dry style and clever cartooning lends itself perfectly to further poetic rants.
Michael Sales
Watch the full animated short on the Vimeo link below:
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