If only one thing could be said about Anomalisa it is that Charlie Kaufman should write and direct more films. His fantastic work as a writer is unquestionable at this point, spanning three decades with films such as Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. His directorial debut released in 2008: Synecdoche, New York. His filmography at this point is very exciting; as his writing displays a fantastic blend of philosophy, psychology, identity and mortality. Although common themes can be drawn from his work, to say that any of his films are similar would be far from the truth. Each is a new experience and Anomalisa is no exception.

The quality of the stop motion will be the first thing many pick up on. It is absolutely fantastic however this contrasts with the cracks that run through characters faces. This presents a slightly off feeling that will continue throughout the whole film but not without good reason. It is almost Lynchian in tone, something just does not feel right, timing and pacing feel off. The first three conversations in the film display this further. We meet our main character Michael Stone a customer service expert traveling to Cincinnati to promote his new book at a convention. He speaks with a man on the plane as he lands, a taxi driver on the way to the hotel and the hotel clerk. The conversations are all very real, natural and display a sort of humanity. Yet there is something eerie about all these interactions, a dullness to it all that is hard to put a finger on. It was not until Michael called his wife and son that it clicked; all the characters apart from Michael have the same face and voice. This implies we are seeing the film through Michael’s eyes and that he is in some way different or unique. It is a very interesting idea due to the nature of his work in customer service. He should see each person as individual with different needs; yet he does not. This is the first indication of his negative attitude and unstable mental health that will grow throughout the film. It also highlights Michael’s ego as he clearly see himself as special when compared with the mundanity of others.

Michael attempts to reconnect with an old girl friend however this ends poorly and fast due to his poor attitude. He mistakenly goes into an adult toy shop to buy a present for his son. He displays a weird interest in a female Japanese animatronic doll. This sequence has a dreamy or surreal feeling to it due to the heavy use of depth of field that is not as prevalent in other scenes; conjuring up memories of Eyes Wide Shut due to the tone and neon lighting. We see Michael taking a shower after this and as he gets out he wipes of the condensation on the bathroom mirror. Looking at his face he notices the crack, due to the nature of Kaufman other work one could presume that Michael was going to find out he was not real. However it seems to be used as more of a red herring to misdirect the audience and as a way of showing that he does not feel comfortable in his own skin. While this happens he hears a unique woman’s voice. He rushes from his room to find its owner: an insecure young woman named Lisa Hesselman, who is attending Michael’s talk with her friend. Lisa is the first character we meet other than Michael with a unique voice and face highlighting her importance within the story and to Michael. Lisa is very self conscious while her friend is very confident and out going. Michael invites the pair out for a drink where this paradigm continues. After drinks Lisa is very surprised that he invites her back and not her friend Emily. She even seems to try to convince him that Emily would be better. He however see her as different, a break in the mundane and therefor special. He admires her facial scars that she attempts to conceal with her hair, which she is freaked out by. He then encourages her to sing Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” after which she tells him about her life. Declaring her an “anomaly”, he nicknames her “Anomalisa”. This leads into them to becoming intimate and having sex.

Waking up the next morning Michael gets a call from the hotel manager. What we are about to experience in Michael’s nightmare is one of the most hauntingly beautiful sequences throughout the whole film. He goes to meet the hotel manger; the first sign of things being slightly more abnormal is the administrator’s office with around twenty employees that seems a bit unnecessary. The camera work after this implies something is different as well as we pan to the door and without cutting we are on the other side of it, which is a nice subtle touch to throw the audience. The hotel manager’s office is huge; Michael even has to use a golf cart to reach the manager’s desk. The whole scene seems some what sinister and the manager seems somewhat villainous. He repeats a line that Lisa stated when the two first meet as well adding to the eeriness of the scene. The sinister aspects of the scene are lost when the Manager reveals his love for Michael. However our interest as an audience peaks at this point as we do not know the sequence is a dream at this point. As he walks out into the administrator’s office it is revealed that everyone has a collective consciousness. This idea will become important in relation to Michael’s speech later. As he runs towards Emily’s room the bottom half of his face fails off, this is the point where it seems as if things are about to get very surreal. He places his face back on, grabs Lisa away from her friend and runs back to his room as the lights go out behind them. He explains to her that they are the only two real people and that everyone else is the same. He asks her to run away with him before the collective consciousness comes knocking at the door. As this happens Lisa wakes him up and reveals he was having a nightmare.

The two order breakfast together. Michael essentially relives part of his dream explaining he wants to be with Lisa as he loves her and wants to leave his wife. She somewhat reluctantly agrees; before he is annoyed by her eating habits. His realisation that she is not perfect and maybe not even special causes her voice and face to begin to shift, till she eventually sounds and looks like everyone else. This forces Michael to become isolated once again like he was at the start of the film.

Michael begins his speech by saying “Always remember the customer is an individual. Just like you.” This is very ironic coming from Michael as he sees everyone as the same even Lisa now. He rereinforces the ideas of individuality yet in his mind he is the only individual. Everyone else is a copy; through the peak into his subconscious (nightmare). We know that he does not just think that people look and sound the same but also think the same due to the shared consciousness. He begins to repeat himself when he talks about what is it ache and be alive, repeating “I don’t know”. He appears to be getting emotional and losing trail of thoughts. He looks back down at his notes to get himself back on track. This only last a moment however as he talks about the importance of smiling even when customers can not hear you. Attempting to prove this point he turns around and states “ I am Lost” “see I was smiling when I said that” “ I’ve lost my love” this is where the breakdown really begins. He is clearly referring to Lisa as the camera cuts to her as she sits in the crowd of people whom all share the same face. He begins repeating “I have no one to talk to”. He feels alone and isolated; he has become the anomaly and appears to have nothing in common with anyone at this point. He apologies, once again looks down at his notes to try to continue. After about one sentence he states “I want to cry, but I can’t”, “Is it the Zoloft, Dr. Horowitz?” Zoloft being an antidepressant this comment can be read in a very interesting way. Is this a small comment from Kaufman on how we as a culture try to cover up mental health issues rather than addressing the route cause? “My face squeezes into that crying contortion you all know so well but nothing come out. I need tears” This could be due to the antidepressants or due to Michael being unable to connect with other people or even his own emotions. Once again he looks at his notes to try to get back on track but this does not last long before he turns around repeating “This is not working”. The constant use of repetition throughout the speech really reinforces Michael’s state of mind, of everything being the same and a copy. “The world is falling about, the president is a war criminal, America is going down the tubes and you’re talking about goddamn intelligent design.” The crowd begin to boo him. “They’ve intentionally destroyed the public education system because it’s easier to manipulate dumb workers and soldiers.” These comments may seem very out of place in the speech and the film, this is even displayed by an audience member “I thought this was about customer service.” However they do hold quite a bit of relevance to his state of mind. Due to seeing everyone as copy with a collective consciousness it is quite clear how Michael would develop ideologies of living in a totalitarian state that is ruled by oppression. Again he tries to get back on track and this does not last long, this constant switching makes him seem somewhat schizophrenic. “Look for what is special about each individual.” The irony of this statement coming from Michael is beautiful.

He speaks about time in life being limited before switching back and saying “so remember to smile”. When he says this we get a very creepy smile that we have not seen during the entirety of this film. The length of breakdown to speech where much longer at the beginning, almost as if he was holding it together better. As we progress to this point they almost rapid fire one after the other. “Remember there is someone out there for everyone. Someone to love. Remember every person you speak to needs love. Remember to…” The speech is cut off at this point and we cut to a plane taking off. It could be read that some of this takes part in Michael’s head however the audience speaking up and booing seems to deny this theory, unless this is in his head as well.

Michael returns home to his wife and son, he is clearly still quite unstable as he gives Henry the doll from the sex shop. His wife has thrown as surprise party for his return but he does not recognise any of the guests, she repeats “it’s everyone”. Before noticing and stating there is semen coming from the doll. Michael asks who she really is and she begins to get frustrated with his actions and attitude. She eventually walks off, Henry presses a button on the doll causing it to start singing but asks to go out and play as he is disappointed with his gift. He sits alone on the stairs watching and listening to the doll sing. The camera fades away from Michael and we begin hearing a voice over of Lisa writing a letter to him with the everyone voice. However when we cut to her she has her unique voice and face once again. The letter she writes lets him know that she is sad about what they could have had and hope that they can meet again under better circumstances. She signs off “P.S I looked up “anomarisa” in my Japanese-English Dictionary. It turns out it means “Goddess of Heaven” Not that I think of myself that way of course. It’s just interesting” This scene may also be the only one we are not seeing through Michael’s eyes as when Lisa looks at her friend she has her own face. Regardless of what happened to Michael, Lisa seems happy and more confident. The wind blowing though her hair so her scares can not be hid. Interacting with Michael seems to have allowed her to accept herself for who she really is.

What makes this film really interesting is that it could only function as stop motion animation. What has been achieved simply would not hold the same weight with live action. Yet Kaufman was able to tell a fundamental human story without the use of real humans. The story at its prime seems to be a study individuality and mental health. How we all perceive ourselves to be special in some way. However in the grand scheme of things Michael seems to realise he is not special but more of an outcast. Many audience members may leave Anomalisa with more questions than answers, but this is the beauty of the film. Kaufman expects you the audience to fill the gaps however you see fit. “Sometimes there’s no lesson. That’s a lesson in itself.” This summarise the film very well as it seems to be more about the journey rather than any deeper analysis of its meaning. This could be said for a lot of Kaufman’s work. Although there are a lot of things we can draw from it searching for a definitive meaning seems somewhat futile and to miss the point of the film.