Anthony's Film Review

This is a rather strange movie, yet it's also interesting because of that...

The movie I am about to review could easily be described in one word: unconventional. It is not your everyday film. In fact, if you are expecting a typical cinematic experience where you are following an exciting plot or riding along with well-developed characters, you may be disappointed. Now, if you're the kind of movie watcher who doesn't mind exploring or thinking about themes, this one might suit you. Same for people who watch certain films purely to experience artistic visual wonders. Along these lines, this movie I shall review can also be characterized as surreal. What you'll see here doesn't make much sense in reality. Really, you'll have to let go of all movie conventions when going into this one. OK, with that, here's my review.

Lava is an adult animated film from Argentina produced in 2019, with an English-dubbed version (featuring Janeane Garofalo voicing the main character) slated for a March 2021 release, alongside the original Spanish-language version, on various digital platforms, including Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, and Vimeo on Demand. Directed by Ayar Blasco and based on a comic by Salvador Sanz, Lava presents a mix of science-fiction, humor, and weirdness. Before I go further into those things and other related stuff, let me quickly comment on the visuals. The animation is done rather well even if it's on the relatively simplistic side, and it's far from being ugly to look at. (Actually, I'm pretty open to all styles of animation, even if it were just stick figures. I only make the preceding comment in case you're one of those pickier fans of animation.)

The film centers on a tattoo artist named Deborah, along with her friends. One night, they are watching a bootlegged episode of a TV show when a series of strange things begin happening. First, all audiovisual signals on all electronic devices go haywire and are replaced by some weird images against a red background. Then there are giant cats on rooftops. As time goes on, everyone begins to see giant snakes and a giant witch. Does any of this make any coherent sense from a reality standpoint? No. But like I describe above, is that really the point of the film? Once you watch about the first 20 minutes of this 67-minute film, you'll realize that the focus is not the story or the characters, but simply the visual and mental experience of watching it.

That said, Lava could arguably be considered an art film. Imagine a group of people viewing the same work of art, like a painting or sculpture. Chances are that each person's reaction and interpretation will be different from everyone else's. The same could be true for Lava. Everyone will have a unique takeaway from it, and it may or may not be aligned with what the director had in mind. But that's OK. It seems the purpose of this particular work of art isn't whether the audience gets what the artist is trying to convey, but simply whatever the audience gets out of it from their own perspective.

I'll go ahead and share my reactions to this film. One thing that was sort of clear to me was the commentary on art and mass media. At one point, I was wondering if the movie is (a) warning us that we as a society are overconsuming content through electronic devices, (b) reminding us that books and art are also creations that we can explore, and (c) telling us that mainstream artistic media may be stifling the creativity of more gung-ho artists. Then, in the second half that has little to no semblance of a story structure, I found myself going with the flow. In other words, I was jarred multiple times by moments of incompleteness and illogical presentation, but I did not resist. I simply acknowledged those feelings and accepted them as my reaction to the film, without assigning judgment to them and letting that determine my rating for this movie.

Overall, Lava is an amusing surreal animated film where the fun really boils down to the viewer experience. It's about audience interpretation and letting our own reactions be the movie experience. After all, art is based on imagination, and nothing says that imagination must be bound to concrete reality. Hence, surrealism. I'll also add that it's nice to be introduced to films from around the world, because international filmmakers may have new takes on movies outside the conventional thinking of mainstream American entertainment.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Lava, visit the Internet Movie Database.