Other than the occasional reference in US sitcoms, I had ZERO experience of 'Pufnstuf' before tonight, when I decided to finally check out the motion picture. Which is seemingly some kind of 96 minute 'condensed reimagining' of the original NBC 1969 tv series. Honestly the internets being a bit confusing about this one, its either a remake of the TV series for the big screen, or its some kind of 'Grand finale' for the tv series...or its both...or its neither...I honestly dont know.
What I do know is that this thing is positively demented and makes 'Batman '66' look like the shipping forecast. a BEWILDERING watch, 'Pufnstuf' follows Jimmie, a kid who's kicked out of band practice for running late and manages to manifest a magic talking flute who takes him to a magic talking boat who takes him to a mysterious magic island known simply as 'Living Island' a place where literally EVERYTHING on the island, no matter how big or small, is alive.
We're introduced to the mayor of Living Island, Pufnstuf. a potato shaped dragon of a creature in cowboy boots. alongside the many MANY other slightly terrifying residents of the island. We're also introduced to 'Witchiepoo' a nefarious witch with evil animal henchmen, who spots Jimmies magic flute and wants it as a gift for the 'Boss Witch'
What follows essentially is a back and forth between Puf, Jimmie and Witchiepoo to try and secure the magic flute, with Jimmie and Puf wanting it to have a nice life on living Island and Withchie...well outside of a gift, her intentions for the flute arnt really made all that clear.
I made the mistake of having a couple beers before going into this. I didnt realise it would go *quite* as hard as it did in terms of psychedilia and just...TOTAL bizarrness. not ONE MINUTE goes by without SOMETHING totally unusual and odd happening. the script feels like an automatic writing experiment, the pacing is seizure inducing, the tone is unbridled glee. I dread to think what contents would have left my stomach had this been screened in a theatre because the total manic energy this thing weilds would be enough to put Richard Simmons into a coma.
Its camp as christmas, the characters are all utterly hamtastic, written on a basic level but with a slight self awareness as a nod and a wink to the adults who got dragged to a screening. This thing was MADE. MADE! for nerodivergent people. its nothing but utter sensory bombardment for 90 minutes. Some may see it as an assault on the senses, but I found a rather bewildered calm broke over me as I just sat smirking at whatever it was happening on my screen.
The direction is painfully unique. delightfully unique. scarily unique. Sid and Marty Kroftt were clearly creative individuals, because I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I have NEVER seen anything quite like this. its grand. feels very handmade, has precision detail. It was clearly a labour of love on the part of the cast and crew.
Same goes for the cine, somewhere between 'The Monkees' tv show and 'The Banana Splits' this thing sits perfectly. its a cacaughany of lights, colour and experimental composition. You could literally project this at an acid rave and noone would bat an eyelid...and thats the problem, because this is a kids film.
The editing is seizure inducing. they went for INTENSE 60's freakout editing. its full of jumpcuts, crash zooms, at one point the whole edit briefly tilts out into a block colour void before tilting back in. theres stock footage tinted acid colours, sequences sometimes feel like they were run through a blender...and again, in any other film i'd be holding it accountable for its actions...NOT THIS ONE. Because clearly the path of linear thought and reality based action left the rails about 8 minutes into this thing and never came back.
Im a firm believer in the idea that some of the best art is achieved by finding the fringe of your comfort zone, taking one step beyond that fringe and then knowing the 'true' scope of your limits. and this film does that in SPADES. it relishes the opportunity to just...be different. Which, given this is a musical (oh yeh...this films a musical too ontop of all the randomness) that features a showstopping song from Mama Cass entitled 'Different' which is literally all ABOUT being different...I feel they knew they were working with something special here.
The cast are 80% puppets, they do a great job...for puppets. the human cast are rock solid too camping it up to the Nth degree and not caring about ANYTHING other than the weird world they'd build.
The soundtracks awesome. Its full of earworm hits with nice meanings. This things just a total trip. I got half an hour in to it and fell in love. The only issue I honestly have with it is the same one I have with 80% of films. That it could have been 15 minutes or so shorter and all the better for it. It ends JUST as it starts to overstay its welcome and I would have liked to have been left wanting more.
Still! if you enjoyed movies like 'The Phantom Tollbooth' or 'Carnival Magic' or 'Head' This thing...man, y'gotta SEE this thing.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/pufnstuf/
No comments:
Post a Comment