$9.99 - Tatia Rosenthal

un film sul senso della vita, un angelo con le ali, un padre con due figli, uno disoccupato, l'altro pignoratore, un bambino che impara a crescere, un maiale di poche parole, un'attrice di pubblicità, un vecchietto senza niente da fare, vivono sotto lo stesso tetto, in un condominio, quasi non si parlano, fanno la vita di tutti, tutti i giorni, nessuno si senta escluso, sperano in un domani migliore.
la cosa straordinario è che è un film con pupazzi, certo non per bambini, un film pieno, non ti
annoi un attimo, promesso - Ismaele

…Sebbene i protagonisti di $9.99 siano pupazzi, la storia ideata da Etgar Keret (co-sceneggiatore insieme a Tatia Rosenthal) è talmente coinvolgente da far dimenticare la loro natura gommosa trascinando lo spettatore in una dimensione sospesa tra immaginario e dramma esistenziale…

da qui

…Por si no se ha percatado, $9.99 no es una película para niños, ni es una comedia; como los escritos de Etgar Keret su corazón está en encontrar paisajes familiares en medio del absurdo. El mundo que crea Rosenthal es fuertemente estilizado y al tiempo familiar, es metafórico y honesto. Si bien el diseño de personajes ayuda a dar soporte al absurdo de las situaciones también es lo suficientemente orgánico como para hacer sentir algunos momentos dolorosamente humanos…

da qui

Animation is the cinematic tool of creativity and invention, used where live action is simply not enough. In this digital FX age, of course, the animator has to have something even more special than ever before, to out-imagine the technology. And what this is, is on display in $9.99, a stop motion animation that delivers unnervingly real characters - made of silicon. But this is achieved not by perfect physical representation, which in fact is the last thing you can say about the figures. It's the team's ability to capture the essence of each character and their human attributes in a much deeper, more subtle fashion, often by the smallest gesture. A clever and sophisticated technique used for making the eyelids flexible also helps; surprising how important these are in conveying complexity or subtlety of emotion in a close up…

da qui

…The “$9.99” comes from the price of a catalog of books, one of which touts to hold The Meaning of Life which Dave buys. Unfortunately, the characters here seem to be caught up in living their own lives and falling victim to respective challenges life presents itself, and so every effort that Dave wants to share gets spurned, and we the audience, unfortunately, don't get to hear if there are any insights to that. But of course we all know that there's no silver bullet, and the characters here, though the course of this emotionally moving film, learn of that meaning as it applies in their own, with the old man determined to take a more proactive approach, to a connection between a father and a son, to love found and running parallel to that, a love broken because of sacrifices that one has to make, or the lack thereof, and the maturing of a young child…

da qui