‘My Love Affair With Marriage’: a dark surreal and feminist animated musical – Las Furias Magazine – Cultural and Feminist Magazine

My Love Affair With Marriage It’s a movie that breaks away from all the conventions of what we normally expect from cinema, and it’s immediately obvious from the first scene to the last.

The work of Signe Baumane begins in the 70s and follows the life of zelma, who from a very young age shows herself to be a girl full of energy and with a vision of the world that differs from that of her surroundings. At the age of 8, his family moved to Latvia, at that time part of the Soviet Union. He shows us how he deals with a new life that you don’t feel you fit innot only at school, but mainly in what is expected of her and what her sex conditions her.

Relationships and the role of women in them, is the central pillar around which the entire work revolves, Zelma and her unique vision of the world. One in which he believes that through love he can be a complete human being with four arms, legs and two heads, he collides head-on with a society that conditions her to make her life revolve around that of men, to seek happiness in a stable marriage. All these myths are manifested through the song of some sirens who try to seduce her with a vision of the world that differs from what she believes, and by which she lets herself be carried away.

My Love Affair With Marriage: the music and aesthetics of a unique animated film

Singing and music are very important in My Love Affair With Marriage. The songs that multiple characters interpret while their lives unfold stand out, and the rest of the soundtrack also composed by Kristian Sensini. They convey very well the feelings of the characters and offer dynamism to the scenes. The film consists of 23 songs or short musical interventions, and generally makes use of language and interpretations more typical of a musical and plays.

It is impossible not to mention the aesthetics, a large part of the film’s personality not only comes from its animation, also drinks from how it was produced: The 145 scenes take place in sets made by hand between 20 and 40 centimeters, which are then covered in papier-mâché, painted, and the plans are illuminated and recorded on the final result. The process gives rise to highly accomplished environments with a strong visual identitywith very marked textures and distinctive patterns, often bordering on the surreal.

Above all, this work is reflected after the animation, hand-drawn drawings by Signe herself, drawing the characters in his signature style, and later animated by his team. The film does not stand out for its complex and fluid animations but for its great personality and visual identity. The aesthetics of the author works perfectly with the harsh era that the work represents. When Zelma’s imaginations are shown, the animation knows how to adapt and move on to much more surreal concepts. This strong visual style works in favor of My Love Affair With Marriageespecially when he breaks it.

My Love Affair With Marriage: Zelma and biology

There is a second protagonist: the biology. Throughout Zelma’s life, as she grows up, she experiences puberty and during her love affairs, My Love Affair With Marriage makes use of completely different little segments in which biology offers a scientific and detailed explanation of what is happening in Zelma’s body and brain. This contrast can also be seen, since these parts are animated by Yajun Shi.

The images stand out not only for making great use of color and animation to explain complex biological concepts and functions in a chewy way, but also for the great contrast they cause when jumping from the aesthetic characteristic of the Signe team to something so differentand, at the same time, maintaining the cohesion of the film.

These sensitivities play in favor of a film that does not mince words when it comes to dealing with courageous themes and putting them under the spotlight, with such important details and covering so many aspects of a woman’s life such as social expectations of how to behave and what to aspire to in life; the concept of love itself, and in general, how a woman who does not fit into these expectations and impositions forces herself to change herself and how all this affects her in her day to day and in herself. The themes are treated in a raw and real way, but with sense of humor and some dramatic elements at the same time.

My Love Affair With Marriage It is not a film for everyone, nor does it pretend to be, it is a daring animated production for adults that offers her own perspective on the life of a woman and how having to adapt to her environment affects her, making use of a unique style and sensibilities, that regardless of everything else, they are quite an experience.