Upside Down

Director: Faith Hubley
Release Date: 1991
Rating: ★★½
Review:

According to the titles this film is inspired by ‘upside down poetry’ by 15th century Indian poet Kabir.

The film shows several ‘upside down’ situations, all introduced by a voice over, like ‘a sheep eats a wolf’, ‘a corpse eats death’, and ‘a fish jumps out of the ocean’. Most interesting is ‘an elephant is tied to an ant’s leg’, which features remarkably classic animation on the elephant, a standout between the circular and flat animation that dominates Hubley’s films.

As always, ‘Upside down’ features Hubley’s gorgeous Miró-like ritualistic designs, but the film is hampered by the trite voice over titles, and Don Christensen’s rather disjointed score. Moreover, the stream-of-consciousness-like scenes are little more than illustrations of the poet’s ideas, and there’s no story whatsoever.

‘Upside Down’ is available on the DVD ‘The Hubley Collection Volume 1’