This animation is one of the works Pitt made 11 years after Joy Street. Unfortunately, it was the movie that disappointed me the most in the marathon, let me be frank: I found it quite boring and there was no trace of Pitt’s unique magic left. The film takes place in an old, crumbling Mexican hospital. There is a grumpy, old doctor who is tired of his job. He deals with strange patients in the hospital: a man with bullet holes all over his body, a girl with morning glory flowers all over her, a woman who thinks she is a horse, etc.
Surreal figures like the Saint of Holes and talking gargoyles also come into play. There is a story like the doctor’s perspective changes in his last moments, and he gains a new perspective on life on his death bed. Technically, the colors are vibrant, and there are still those wiggly, bacteria-like dancing figures in the hand-drawn animation. The atmosphere of Mexican folklore and magic realism is also felt. But it’s not the old Pitt flavor.
The fluid, immersive psychedelic dream logic of Joy Street is officially lost here. The movie progresses more like a dialogue-heavy, darkly humorous hospital chaos. It doesn’t keep the rhythm, the scenes are getting longer, 23 minutes literally felt like 40 minutes to me. I looked forward to it being over. Symbolism and approach Characters such as the man with the hole, the girl with the flower, and the horse woman look surreal on paper, but they do not add depth.
It feels like there is a forced “depth” effort. The doctor’s inner world, his regrets, his enlightenment at the moment of death… These are good ideas, but they are not as impressive visually and rhythmically as Pitt’s previous works. The visual poetry in Asparagus, the integration with nature and the psychedelic baptism in Joy Street have been replaced by a heavy, talkative structure here. Instead of the feeling of a subconscious journey, an atmosphere like “black humor at work” prevailed.
Overall, I think it’s one of Pitt’s weakest movies. The disturbing beauty, fluid dream logic and surprising symbolism I was expecting are pretty dull here. Maybe he wanted to try a new look at Mexican culture and the hospital environment, but the result was not what he wanted. The kind that makes you say “okay, we saw this too, let’s move on” in the marathon. It is a big decline after the emotional and transformative atmosphere of Joy Street.
Still, it is in Pitt’s filmography and should not be missed.
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