Violet Heights

So far I haven't been overly fond of Richard Bevis's style. This movie is no real exception, but it is well done enough for me to have enjoyed it. The film depicts a man's suicide and then plays itself backwards to show the events that led up to that. It appears to use funky purple borders and colorful scenes to represent the present and a basic square border with sepia colors to represent the past. I thought the colors were interesting but at the same time they were repulsive in a way that just makes you feel a little bit queasy.

The plot was cliche, dull, and very overdramatic, but it was executed in a way that definitely keeps the viewer's interest. When the scene opened up to the dead guy on the desk with the gun nearby I sighed very loud on the inside, but as the blood droplets smoothly rolled back up onto the table I leaned forward a little bit. Despite the enjoyment I experienced while watching it, I just can't seem to get the flamboyant cheeseball flavor out of my mouth, somewhat like when you feel sick from having way too much sugar.

I found the animation to be very nice. Most parts seemed smooth and funtioned well, although there were a few scenes that took me out of it where Bevis had two textures on top of one another during a moving camera shot which made them jump around a lot, particularly the brick wall right after the opening sequence. I'd advise him to take note of that because its a pretty easy thing to fix. Other than that I consider the animation to be one of the more satisfying parts of the movie, especially the reverse motion scenes which looked great.

Bevis needs to tone down the dramatic stuff a little bit, so far the only films I've seen from him have been nauseatingly cheesy, which is sad because he definitely has talent.