Izidor: Review. By Josiah Teal.

In 1988, Romania was under a Communist dictatorship, and all families were required to have five children in hopes of creating an army for the future. All those born with disabilities were sent to asylums, often never seeing outside the walls of their cells. Izidor (Iosua Barbu) lived in such an asylum and had never felt the sun on his skin until he turned 8.

When Izidor finally has the freedom to see the outside world, he takes every moment to see the beauty in what many would call mundane. Izidor tells the story of the young boy’s first adventure into the world as a courageous nanny takes him outside for the first time.

Director David Kabbe blends live-action and animation throughout Izidor, depicting the asylum in grayish computer animation and the outside with lush, colorful live-action. The juxtaposition of color in the hopeless asylum and beautiful soaring shots outside drives home the story’s most prominent theme: freedom. Yet, the animation at the opening and closing of the short film is distracting to the overall narrative.

In a time when audiences expect gorgeous animation from even small studios, Izidor‘s animation seems more akin to straight-to-video movies of the early 2000s. Izidor‘s themes of freedom, opportunity, and childlike wonder are powerful. Still, the shots and soundtrack are often comparable to a 90s feel-good family movie, almost like the “Golden Comedies” of Chris Columbus (even down to the sweeping orchestral melodies that highlight the soundtrack). Fusing whimsical musings about a horse named “Sugar” with heavier themes makes the overall tone seem asymmetrical.

Izidor is such an important story. On plot alone, it could be a moving short film. The idea of one day of bliss while surviving an asylum is enough to fill even the most hard of hearts with empathy. But the animation and mixed tone detract from the gravity of the narrative. Most of the characterization happens in the closing with real-life Izidor or in the prologue, making any of the adventures seem like a “slice of life” in a non-slice-of-life movie.

Characterization is tricky in such a short runtime, but the character arcs suffer when the protagonist’s introduction is in distracting animation, and his later adventures feel uneven. The plot alone does not make a narrative or gripping short film. While Izidor has a strong premise, it needs more symmetry to fully shine.

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