Films

Graduate of The National Film School of Denmark, Morgenthaler released his first feature film, Princess, in 2006. Renowned as being controversial, the film concerns the death of an ex-porn star and her brother's determination to put up the daughter she left behind and annihilate the surviving porn material.

The film combines a number of animation techniques, to encompass a raw and edgy yet ethereal reality. Inserted throughout the film, when porn footage or home videos are made reference of, the format switches to live-action.

FEATURE FILMS

The photography work of Nobuyoshi Araki, was a source of inspiration for the film's motif of art and sexuality. It was seeing the way Araki presented prostitutes of Tokyo in a manner that defined them as something other than objects of sexual fantasy that triggered the stimulus for the film -- what if one of these girls were someone in my family? The intention was to focus on the porn industry from an intimate perspective and not its entire place in society. Putting yourself in that position, you instinctively become protective and resentful. From there it was a natural step to becoming a revenge story. Morgenthaler is pertinently opposed to its being construed as a piece of realism. Particularly the Danish press
reviewed it that way, when it was always supposed to be poetic and in no way an advocate of violence.

August (the brother) is presented as a priest to extenuate the brutality to follow. Taking a character who lives by rules and standards dramatises the story when they react in a way that avoids our expectations. The most mentally damaged happening is pictured above, where the five year old daughter, Mia, sees to the porn producers demise -- ruining her innocence hereafter. In this instance animation serves the story well. Morgenthaler felt that animation would make the story bearable and avoid the recreation of a little girl having to act out the more violent scenes.

I found parts of the film to be visually appealing -- namely the parts I've shown as screenshots above. I liked the pastel grainy haze of the backgrounds and the lines on a few of the characters. The film felt like a long 82 minutes and I didn't like the frequency of live action sequences but my mind was always focused on the plot. I thought that August's transition from humble priest to vengeful brother was pretty weak and I don't think that sleaze of the porn industry was in the foreground enough.

THE APPLE & THE WORM

A considerably more tame story from Morgenthaler, initially created as a children's theatre piece. The Apple & the Worm was made by a production team of 25 members at Copenhagen Bombay.

The film is an unconventional tale of a shiny red apple who aspires to reach the bright lights of the supermarket, until his chances plummet when a worm makes him her new residence. It's a 75 minute feature, and was created totally paperless in TVPaint. It's supposed to be light-hearted entertainment for children, but the story channels and important message translated through the apple's journey to becoming less cosmetically concerned.

MARCO MACACO . CARLOS CASINO

Nearing the end of production at the moment, Carlos Casino is the debut animated feature film from The National Film School of Denmark graduate, Jan Rahbek.
Our leading protagonist, Marco the Monkey is a lowly beach officer with an appetite for serious detective work. It's a CG action comedy set to be released this July.