02/02/2024 - Multimedia artist and animator Yves Netzhammer brings to life a peculiar yet thought-provoking 3D-animated tale of humanity pared down to its core

Imagine a human stripped down to merely the corporeal. It has limbs and a torso, but no face, as other body parts appear only when they are interacted with. But this is no horror of faceless monstrosities – it’s the design of Swiss artist Yves Netzhammer’s human characters in Journey of Shadows, who grieve, ponder and love just as profoundly as those who are fully fleshed out, physically. Evoking the archetypal wooden mannequin used by artists to model human movement, these non-gendered, pink figures appear as if they could be the foundation of every character in the era of early 3D animation.

Having just enjoyed its premiere in IFFR’s 2024 Tiger Competition, Journey of Shadows joins several other films in this year’s selection made by creative practitioners coming from other artistic disciplines. It is the first feature-length effort by Netzhammer, who works across a wide variety of mediums, including video art, sculpture, animation and mixed-media installation. However, Journey of Shadows also reflects decades of the multimedia creator’s expansive body of work reinvented for a long-form narrative. For instance, the film's monkey character can be found in Netzhammer’s 2008 video installation Furniture of Proportions, while the pink 3D-animated figure design distinct to his oeuvre can be found as far back as 2005.

The film first introduces a nameless couple – they take part in typical activities together like swimming (moving in perfect computer-generated synchronicity) and cuddling affectionately in their home. This peaceful life with two unique pets, a monkey and an anglerfish, is interrupted by Kafkaesque interactions between the couple that lead to the quiet death of one of the pair. Throughout the rest of the movie, the remaining member of the couple is transported on a lonely journey through different spaces in Netzhammer’s world. Finally, the figure lands on a remote beach, reuniting with familiar characters while also encountering newfound challenges of the jungle environment.

Composed entirely of brightly coloured 3D shapes, Netzhammer’s world is whittled down to basics, but remains symbolically endowed with mirrors, books, candles and butterflies. These are some of the many semiotic elements within this tale, but all objects nearly always follow the principle of Chekhov’s gun. At times, the style also allows Netzhammer to tap into a surreal brand of gore and horror without fear of alienating the audience, including bodily violence and terror brought about by a massive robotic crab.

In a singular blending of the familiar and the unfamiliar, the film’s unusual style is not as emotionally distancing as one might expect. The framing and camera movement are otherwise conventional, save for rapid zooms emulating those of surveillance cameras and close-up reflections in spherical objects, such as balls and eyes. Although the film has no dialogue, the sound effects are highly realistic (thanks to Foley by Peter Bräker and the sound design by Oscar Parcival Van Hoogevest), providing an aural grounding point for the viewer. The churning, hypnotic orchestral score by Anthony Pateras mediates the protagonist’s eponymous journey in a way that could more or less be described as traditionally cinematic.

In a subversion of expectations around an ultra-minimalist design, Journey of Shadows is surprisingly tender and sometimes even sexual, conveyed effectively through careful movements without the need for facial expressions or vocalisations. Other elements become irrelevant as Netzhammer probes the human experience by distilling it down to its very essence.

Journey of Shadows is a Swiss production by freihändler Filmproduktion GmbH and Liechti Filmproduktion GmbH, co-produced by SRF – Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. Freihändler is also managing sales.