Skhizein garnered the audience award during the Annecy festival, the Kodak Short Film Award at Cannes and was the first short animation film to win the Manhattan Short Film Festival among many other prizes. The title derives from a Greek word that means "to divide" or "to split"; from the same root word the term "schizophrenia" is born. The approach is utterly and dramatically surreal in its' premises as much as in it's Kafkaesque consequences: the protagonist, as the result of an encounter with a meteorite, begins living exactly 91 centimetres from himself.
The fact that a great part of the explanations offered up by the protagonist, Henri, are formulated on the divan of his psychiatrist and the apparent normality with his surroundings as well as the victim of this phenomenon himself all assuming their respective consequences is one of the best narrative qualities of this short film. Like a modern day Gregor Samsa, Henri accepts this totally incredible event in the saddest, quotidian manner possible. The filmmaker Jérémy Clapin uses a contrast between the most hyperbolic fantasy and a narrative technique often seen in realistic animation to develop an elaborate metaphor about mental problems and the social isolation that ensues. It is obvious, if anyone still had any doubts, that animation can also be an excellent terrain to reflect on more serious issues.
For those of you that were left wanting to better get to know Jérémy Clapin's work, I recommend the short Une Histoire Vertebrale, a tender and fun story concerning complementaries.
Basic Credits:
Script and Director: Jérémy Clapin
Production: Dark Prince
3D Director: Jean-François Sarazin
Music: Nicolas Martin
Animation: Jérémy Clapin and Peggy Portal
* Translation by: Vera Ciria
