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★★★★
Directed by: Jeff M. Giordano
A variety of people talk about their perspectives on dating, marriage and intercourse.
This unusual and interesting documentary utilizes animation and voice-over in order to be creative and explore the chosen subjects. Unlike most documentaries, this one does not record images, but sound. It records the voices of a group of approximately twenty individuals as they speak and it relies on their spoken words in order to pass information to the viewer. The animation that accompanies the narration in a way makes their phrases come to life as it appears to be relevant to what they are saying.
The feature is separated into four chapters: Monogamy, Sex, Fear and Technology. The animation covers the entirety of the film. It begins with a brief voice-over by director Giordano, explaining what motivated him to make this film. The film then moves on to the commentary of the interviewees throughout the chapters. The interviewees consist of a variety of sexualities and share their feelings and experiences regarding intercourse, relationships, getting married, how their sexual orientation affects their lives, what worries them about letting someone into their life and how modern technology such as online dating and texting influences relationships. Unsurprisingly, due to the subject matter, there is explicit language.
A number of animators took part in this project and as a result the animation consists of a variety of forms, including hand-drawn animation, watercolor animation, stop motion animation and claymation. Some sequences also mix live action with animation. The style and contents change every time another person speaks, which makes the film more intruiging to watch. The animated images include a large variety of characters and themes, some of which appear coherent, while others depict nudity or intercourse and others contain sinister and violent depictions. Some are also rather awkward, for instance one sequence shows a woman walking in a forest, entering a large cocoon and emerging with large wins on her back. Another sequence shows a man removing his head, removing the top of his skull like a bin and a pipe emerges from the hole where the head used to be and proceeds to drip blood inside the head. It might be hard to comprehend at times, but each animated sequence represents what the speaker is trying to communicate. It depicts their ideas and emotions.
It is worth mentioning that there are a few sequences, during which the interviewee is animated. This technique might help the viewer identify with them more.
With the exception of the closing credits, there is no music. The only sounds belong to the narrator's voices and they all to a good job talking about the various issues and they feel.
Interestingly, this documentary could effectively be experienced just by listening to it, since it includes no documented footage or score. Just listening to people's thoughts would be a different experience. On the other hand, if the film was viewed without audio, that might make another experience worth pursuing.
Romantic Chorus is a rather stimulating achievement. It is quite interesting to listen to each individual's point of view and experiences, concerning the matters mentioned above. It is also appealing to view all the wonderful work that was developed for this project by very talented artists. It is almost like visiting an art museum.
To summarize, this documentary is very well made and succeeds in grabbing the audiences attention both visually and audibly. The topics attract attention and so do the animations. It deserves a lot or praise and recognition.
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