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TRANSCRIPT
‘Ryan’ (Animated Documentary) EssayBy Oliver Tillery D.N.P
‘Ryan’ is an animated documentary that focuses on the animator and credited artist Ryan Larkin. The film is based around an interview with Ryan Larkin with Chris Landreth as the interviewer. Through the questions posed by Landreth we are thrown into the life of Ryan Larkin. The film shows Ryan Larkin with half a face and the back of his head is open, this is a reference to show that he is broken, and throughout the interview we discover why.We are told about his personal life, such as his family and friends, drug use and really about the history of Ryan Larkin.When Larkin is asked about his wife we see his wife’s ghost, and Larkin can feel her presence, and when he ‘touches’ her hand his face re-builds to show that he feels whole again and that she is what he is missing from his life.In an interview with Larkin’s producer we find out that Larkin was ‘a guy who was bursting with life’ ‘he could hardly contain the flow of drawings’ ‘and now here’s a guy who is living out every artists worst fear, losing it’.However the interview isn’t all about his family and friends, its also about his work. We know from when he dances in his own animation that he loves his work, also as the animation finishes he says ‘shit!’ this shows that he was lost in his own thoughts and he had to return to reality, another reference to being ‘lost in your own mind’ in the film is when the colored strips wrap themselves around a persons head, this is a metaphor for being ‘killed by your own creativity’ it could also mean being mentally ill. I think the colors on the back of Larkin’s head and on peoples faces or hands are a metaphor for their creativity, as when Larkin looks at his drawing the colors on his hands and in the back of his head move and remember the
piece of work he did. Further more we discover that he is a heavy drinker, hence the flask that Larkin has on the table during the interview, the flask has two arms that pop out and reach towards Larkin whenever he feels he needs a drink. The reason we believe he drinks is because he doesn’t like living
in the real world, we get the impression that he wants to create his own world in his animations.In the film Chris Landreth is always trying to get the bottom of Larkin’s problem and tries to get him back on his feet.When Landreth poses a question about Larkin’s alcohol problem two arms reach out of his head towards Larkin, this is a simple gesture to show that Landreth wants to help Larkin get up and running once again, and bring back the old Ryan Larkin.The reaction that Landreth receives is less than positive as Larkin appears to have know self-belief ‘there’s nothing I enjoy more than a good glass of cold beer, am I supposed to give that up for like tea or something? No can’t do that’ then when Landreth tells him that he wants to see him ‘thrive’ he replies with ‘who’s going to buy my creations?’ Larkin is unconfident and is reluctant to start creating again ‘I’ve been ripped off so fucking much, I’ve
decided to stop creating’, then he goes on to the subject of money ‘one can not do anything without the power on money!’ ‘I’ve got like about 10 dollars in my pocket which is like a really happy experience for me’. Here Larkin unearths the social pecking order by which people are valued by how much money they have, if say Larkin wanted to start creating again, he wouldn’t be able to because he has no money. The world would be depriving an artist from creating. Landreth plays ‘the voice of reason’ and ‘the good guy’
who only wants to help Larkin hence the ‘halo’ that appears above his head, but when he realizes that Larkin has given up the halo that once appeared on Landreths head goes out and then shatters to show that there is no hope for Larkin.However at the end of the film Larkin is begging for money and seems more confident and cheerful, also he says that he is ‘still enjoying human behavior’ this tells us that there still is hope and it’s a small step towards Larkin getting back up on his feet.What I like about this film is in the end when Larkin is on the street begging for money the last shot shows him next to a shop window and his reflection shows him as a complete man, I think that this is how he now feels after the interview with Landreth, he feels like he is going to turn his life around.Overall I think ‘Ryan’ is an amazing film filled with metaphors, and it taught me that life is only what you make it.
