Head

In the first images, Head sets the scene and introduces its character (a sort of half-child robot, with a dinosaur tail) in a fairly classic way, in an atmosphere vaguely reminiscent of the world of early manga. But we quickly realize that something is wrong with the action. Centered on the robot, the action piles up an unexplained parade of transformation processes (ingesting, evacuating, blowing, distilling, etc.), which repeat or respond to each other in echoes, heightening the sense of circularity, until the last images loop over those at the beginning. It is therefore a kind of choreography, repetitive to the point of being almost hypnotic, the symbol of which could be the traditional sign of American barbers (exported to Japan, where we encounter it a lot), as it is shown in passing in the film: the spiral cylinder. If this choreography is not immediately perceptible, it is because Head is full of small details which attract attention and testify to the authors' pleasure in creating a hybrid cartoon universe, imbued with the inventiveness of the beginnings of comics. We could almost say that Head is the cross between the abstract comic strips of George Herriman and the mangas of Osamu Tezuka – Krazy Kat meets Astro Boy. Added to these references in Head is the mix between hand-drawing (proudly shown from the opening credits) and digital animation. Soft objects and sharp shapes, organic and mechanical, in color or black and white, divide, intersect and create a fanciful and playful universe. Head is indeed a graphic game, but not a closed game: one of those that convey the possibility of endlessly reinventing drawing.