Martin Lindsey

09-21-11

Minotaur, Film Analysis #1 for ANI460

Produced by Daniel Sousa

1999

At first viewing I was somewhat lost on Daniel Sousa’s interpretation of the legend of the minotaur so I had to go back and research the old Greek mythological story to better understand the context of his rendition. A brief synopsis of the tale is one of a lustful tryst between woman and beast (could this have been the source of the Beauty and the Beast centuries later?) that produces an abhorrent half man-half animal as its progeny. The beast is imprisoned in a custom built labyrinth on the aisle of Crete for safe keeping and ultimately the hero Theseus of Athens uses a ball of yarn to lure the monster and kill him.

The film made a nice artist impression on me in a number of ways. The overall look and feel of the film is dark and foreboding from the sea storm that opens it through every minute of life in the labyrinth. I’m also always drawn to well composed water animation, especially big sea waves, and Sousa did a great job of representing the shifted planes of water that carried Theseus’ ship towards Crete.

The monster puppets looked great having a hand drawn, maybe inked or painted look to them. The profile and frontal puppets both were manipulated very effectively with a jerky motion used to consistently characterize the minotaur throughout the film.

I thought the hall of mirrors in the labyrinth served as a great method of self-examination for the monster to ponder his situation as a prisoner. Multiple mirrors on multiple columns all around seemed to serve as a constant reminder of his fate no matter where he turned. The nostril breath effect on one of the mirrors and the minotaur touching the glass added to the feel of the animal contemplating his lot. I think this was the first great point of empathy for me where I can see the character actually thinking.

Although in the myth, Theseus uses a ball of thread as a lure for the kill Sousa gave the story an interesting twist using a hard red ball instead. The bowling-ball-on-concrete sound it makes speaks to the starkness of the prison halls. The constant rolling from hall to hall indicated the vastness of the chamber as well.

Sousa returns to the water theme again at one point with a set of columns coming together to spin in place and create undulating waves, column to column, with the patterns painted on each. He uses this device to show Theseus’s approach to the island as his ship also travels across the columns on those same waves.

The figure of the young girl struck me in a couple of different ways. She could have been representative of the unwed maidens who, along with a few young men, on occasion were sacrificed to the minotaur. I base that on the fact that the monster, after prancing in front of her for a few moments, as if to lull her into a false sense of security in his imposing presence, in an instant bursts into the bullish rage of the hungry beast that he was.

But perhaps she also could represent King Minos' daughter, Ariadne, who helped Theseus find his way through the monster’s lair in order to kill him.

Having looked deeper I’m impressed with Sousa’s multilayered storyline possibilities along with his multilayered animation techniques. I look forward to viewing this film a few more times to verify my first impressions and potentially draw new conclusions from the piece.