The Romantic (film)

Did You Know?

• Heneghan animated about 80 of the film's 95 minutes and drew all characters and backgrounds himself.
• He documented the production process on his blog The Pumpkin Moon.
• To support himself while making the film, Heneghan worked as a freelance animator, comic book colorist and flatter, for a photo booth company, and as a pastor's assistant.

Plot summary

A young man known as the Romantic, living amid autumn scenery, loses his love for his girlfriend. He begs the goddess Love to rekindle it; she advises against it but gives in. He discovers his girlfriend with another man. Blaming the gods Love, Hate, and Time for betrayal, he pursues vengeance with his friend Patience. The plot also includes the gods’ own history and a story about the corrupt Fat Daddy.

Inspiration and origin

Heneghan cited Yuri Norstein, Jan Svankmajer, Yiri Trnka, and Jim Henson as visual inspirations. Greek and Norse mythologies and the book Blood Meridian influenced the story. Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore motivated Heneghan to become an animator. The film began as a twelve-minute senior thesis project at the University of the Arts; an abridged first act became his senior project. Character development started as early as 2003, and after graduating in 2006 he expanded it into a feature.

Reception

The film premiered at the Boston Underground Film Festival on 30 March 2010 and, after further tweaking, was released on the Internet in February 2011. Mike Everleth of the Underground Film Journal called it 'a fairy tale for adults, in every sense [with] some blue language,' praising the visual style as 'beautifully unique' and the story as a '[masterfully rich woven] tapestry for a far-out fable. He wrote that 'The Romantic is a very rich and complex fairy tale and, like all good fairy tales, has deep moral metaphors buried within its story,' and lauded the characterization, noting characters are 'unable to escape their fates, in the way that many of us can feel pushed and pulled around by our own emotions.

Mark Bell of Film Threat gave four out of five stars, stating 'the story is a little bit all over the place' and that 'allegories about religion and philosophy play out simultaneously. He called the visuals 'a style all its own, and it is all-out crazy,' comparing it to Yellow Submarine ('though not as psychedelic') and Picasso ('though not as abstract'). Matt Cantor of Philadelphia City Paper called it 'an eerie, haunting film that's part myth, part fairy tale, and part fable,' noting the plot was 'more episodic' than a traditional Hollywood story arc and 'at times difficult to follow,' but commended the Tim Burton-echoing animation as ultra-smooth, gorgeous and original.

He also praised Jason Salerno's performance as Romance as 'passionate and convincing' and Nathan Terry's original film score as 'sweet and atmospheric.