I was amazed at how many people came to Jodie's screening/lecture- definitely the highest attendance of any lecture! I could understand why, as I was excited to hear from a filmmaker and see her work. Animation is a really interesting medium- it requires a serious passion and commitment to follow through with a project, the same makings of a long lasting relationship! Seeing an animation that is a serious work such as Yard Work is Hard Work was truly impressive.
The subject matter of the film was very applicable to the class. It tells the story of a young couple whose ambition came to haunt them as harsh economic reality set in, and sets it to the tune of a musical. I thought the musical/animation hybrid provided an ironic twist to the story, as it gets quite gritty and real, and a musical animation is about as far from "reality" as possible as film formats go. However, I think that's also how a situation like that is experienced- there's this naive optimism, that despite the problems the love that the couple shares will be the answer. Everything will end up being rainbows and butterflies! Of course, that usually doesn't happen, but the aesthetics and creative choices of the film enhanced the idea of this optimism, and enhanced its presence to me.
I also liked the ambiguous ending of the film- the couple doesn't have an epic break up, but they also aren't together in the way they were at the beginning. The break up is a subtle one between naive optimism and the relationship- they've been through something very real and tough together, so their relationship is automatically different. They are no longer the same, but that's not necessarily bad- sometimes it's even better. If they can survive the yard work, they are much more prepared for the next challenge they will face.
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