– Stefano Bertelli’s animated movie marries memories and existential experiences with space-time theories using the fascinating technique of stop motion
God doesn’t play dice with the universe, but the film world does. And so too does Stefano Bertelli with Spacetime Chronicles, a low-budget, independent, animated feature film which is continuing its festival journey with an Italian premiere in Milano Film Fest and a French premiere in the Annecy Animated Film Festival, where it’s competing in the Contrechamp section, following screenings in Anima Brussels, BAFICI, Raindance, Galway, Columbus, and Morbido Fest.
The winner of the Webby Award, Bertelli has directed and produced live action and animated music videos (sometimes using AI) for world renowned artists such as Eminem, She & Him, The Driver Era, Coyu & Moby, Robbie Williams and Monsta X. Technically, Spacetime Chronicles is his second feature film: in 2014, Bertelli shot his first animated feature, Acid Space, an “artisanal” experiment which explored alternative approaches to live-action production and which paved the way for film production mainly revolving around paper-based stop motion. In the first instance, this led to a short film with an approximate 24-minute runtime and, ultimately, to Spacetime Chronicles, which was developed in league with Riccardo Orlandi who oversaw set construction and the mechanics of the movie’s animation.
Spacetime Chronicles depicts the inner journey of a young man caught between reality and imagination. The film begins with a passenger plane falling from the sky, a black hole spewing black cubes, and the perspective of the protagonist, called Fred, who’s getting on a bus to go to school. The bell rings; the students are nervous ahead of their exam. Fred runs to the toilet to vomit up an emerald-green liquid which soon transforms into a river, echoing the famous elevator scene in The Shining. Having “randomly” met a girl, helped by a mysterious book, Fred tries to hook up with her in Tokyo where she’s relocated for work in order to resolve a dilemma, but nothing whatsoever seems destined to have an ending. From the get-go it’s clear the film’s narrative is far from linear. For this his first experience of penning a screenplay, Bertelli has interwoven memories and experiences, fears and existential angst, Albert Einstein’s theory of gravitation, the thermodynamics of black holes as studied by Stephen Hawking, the relationship between space and time, and the principles of randomness and determinism, referencing James Calloway’s disaster books, ucronic science fiction literature, dystopian cinema and mindfuck movies (mainly Donnie Darko).
Greater fluidity could have been achieved with a more understated and accessible screenplay, but if you’re looking for entertainment, you don’t need to follow the philosophical discourse delivered by the cat in dark glasses too closely (yes, there’s a talking cat called Fred who represents Fred’s conscience), you just need to enjoy the sense of impending doom conveyed by the director’s colossal and fascinating efforts. From a visual perspective, Spacetime Chronicles reminds us of one of the wryest and most irreverent animated series in the history of TV entertainment, South Park. The pilot episode was actually made using cut-out motion and computer animation based on that technique. Michel Gondry also animated paper, card and reclaimed materials by way of the usual laborious medium of stop motion, but what’s particularly impressive about Spacetime Chronicles is the huge dynamism and dramatic intensity of the action scenes, achieved by combining stop motion techniques with super slow motion. The explosions are especially delectable, not to mention the detailed cut-out work which is all done by hand: the escalators, the sushi and Jingumae district in Tokyo, the Eighties videogames, the Boing 737 cockpit, and the characterisation of the different figures who move through the interwoven dimensions of a space where every single observer has their own perception of time… Which is exactly what film does.
Spacetime Chronicles was produced by Seenfilm. World sales are entrusted to French firm Urban Sales.
(Translated from Italian)
