Dark and textured. This is a adult parable/fairytale about Love & death steeped in victorian-age clockwork magic. The scenes rendered in almost antique "stop Action" animation has an eldritch/creepy feel to it that keeps the viewer on the edge of feeling like he was watching someone's beginning nightmare, or a fever dream on the verge of going very wrong.
For those of you who care-- Although the story never crosses the line: there is a light stream of dark eroticism running through this movie-- so ADULTS ONLY, folks! This movie is NOT FOR KIDS. Mind you, it is tastefully done, whatever your morals.
The storyline is. . .obscure yet evocative. It echoes of something I can't quite pin down I won't repeat what others have said except for the Main Reason for the entire Adventure. An Beautiful Opera Singer dies, and is brought to the weird clockwork isle of Dr. Droz to be magically revived as part of his clockwork art/machines.
This isn't a Storyline or a Plot, really, it's a description of what you start with. What the STORY in this movie is ACTUALLY about is still hard to wrap my mind around-- except that it's deeply woven in the characters and the soft, twisty, multi-meaningful dialogue about Desire and Death.
Having said that, I never once hit the FF button, and I PAUSED the DVD when I had to leave for a moment.
This movie is more aptly a literary event for the eyes and the mind. Best viewed with the lights and cellphones OFF. Gag the Girlfriend for good measure while you're at it. I don't expect her to pass this test.
