Fishboy | Stop Motion Animated Short Film about Guilt

Fish Boy lives in darkness, his guilt about the past slowly consuming him.

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Fish Boy
Directed by Anita Bruvere

"As a man with a fish head battles his inner demons, he’s forced to make a decision when his struggles start affecting the person closest to him. In Anita Bruvere’s impressive stop-motion short Fishboy, the director explores the theme of guilt and its repercussions by combining hand-crafted puppets and paint on glass animation to make this surreal narrative feel emotionally palpable and intensely compelling.

Bruvere shared with us that “the idea was born from the image of a man with a fish head instead of a human head”. From that starting point, with screenwriter Bethe Townsend, they started thinking about what life would be like for this character and built their narrative around that premise. Explaining that the film is essentially “a couple having a conversation about their relationship, but shown in a metaphorical way”, the director adds that she “wanted to explore the themes of loss and guilt and how those feelings can affect people around the person experiencing those feelings”. In the conversations between the on-screen couple, guilt almost becomes a character with a physical presence, as Bruvere effectively makes the audience “visualise what the couple feels”.

While the narrative is quite specific, the metaphor allows everyone to experience the film in their own way and potentially relate to some of its aspects differently. As Bruvere explains: “I’m interested in connecting the personal to the universal and in telling stories that use unconventional narratives to create a strong sensation or feeling for the viewer”. Ultimately, Fishboy is a universal enough story that the majority of viewers should find it emotionally engaging. However, by approaching and developing the story from the partner’s perspective as well it subverts expectations, becoming less conventional and more powerful, especially with that ending.

With such an ambitious screenplay, an equally impressive level of craft was needed to bring the filmmakers’ vision to the screen. Thankfully, Bruvere, an experienced stop-motion animator, does not disappoint and her textured approach is an essential component in the success of the short. Using both the puppet stop motion and the paint on glass techniques gives a visual depth to this metaphoric tale and enhances its emotional depth. With the paint on glass scenes capturing the memories in two dimensions, the present is represented in a more palpable way with the puppets. Bruvere confesses that representing the sea was challenging, as it illustrates much more than a simple body of water, describing it as “comforting and suffocating at the same time”. The result is nothing short of breathtaking, her depiction serves the story on the deepest level by being more effective and visceral than any spoken or unspoken dialogue between the characters.

Fishboy had a successful festival run during the 2018/2019 season and Bruvere has gone on to direct another animated short film Home, which premiered at Annecy in 2020 and will hopefully have its online debut soon. Bruvere also works as a modelmaker and animator for films, ads and TV, with credits including previous S/W pick Frank’s Joke (also produced by Shereen Ali) and Edgar Wright’s debut documentary The Sparks Brothers." - S/W Curator Céline Roustan

Bertrand Rocourt - Cinematographer
Alice La Trobe - Production Designer
Tine Lykke Jensen – Editor
Seymour Milton - Composer
Breen Turner - Sound Designer
Laura Jane Dart – Colourist
Amy Gibson – Compositor

Cast
Hugh Skinner – Fish Boy
Emily Taaffe – Laura

Reproduced on this channel with the permission of the filmmakers.

[cskkfql]

I love when he puts the water back in the sink. Its like something from a dream where physics are warped.

[kieDkiee]

I noticed the water came every time he almost started to feel happy. Like he didn’t feel like he was allowed to experience joy because of what happened.

[santoshsamuel]

If the water represents haunting issues, I think him having a fish head is the ability to cope under the water from years of dealing with it.

[giovannabmagalhaes]

What I particularly got from this: He and his sister went to play on a pier when suddenly his sister had a seizure, he didn't know what was going on or what to do, for the boy, the convulsive movements that his sister made were like a drowning fish, so he, being a kid, pushes her in the water hoping that it can help her just like the fish, which of course doesn't work, and she drowns.
The guilt and the mourning remains with him and keep chasing him for decades, even as an adult, represented by the water that constantly follows him like a monster, the adult version of his sister is probably a representation of him trying to get over it and move on, telling himself it wasn't his fault, after all he was just a kid who didn't know what he was doing, but no matter how calm things get for a while, the "water" always eventually comes back to haunt him.
When he "saves" the adult version of his sister, means that what's done is done, he can't fix it, nothing will ever change what happened, and that's when he realizes he'll never get over it, and finally decides to kill himself by drowning.
In the last few seconds, two fish are shown swimming together, representing his soul reuniting with his sister's.

[caprituna]

the importance of color really got me in this one. i love how everything is cold, except for the children, the fish they saved, and the woman. to me the yellow represents happiness, good memories, and at the end he gives up the most yellow element in his life to go after a fading happiness, something that brings up good memories but is also tied to the sadness of what happened. amazing movie!

[lorio]

this is how survivor's guilt feels, when someone dies and you're left to cope. i know that guilt is mostly associated with surviving after a traumatic event when others die, but i think you go through something similar when someone close to you dies and you have to live. after all, part of the guilt is that you get to live and they don't. maybe you feel that they deserved to live more than you. and even if you couldn't have really saved them, you still blame yourself that you didn't do something that would have made everything turn out different. you no longer have the support of that person that would have helped you through things. unless someone experiences such a thing, the people that try to offer support cannot come close to offering real help. sad and beautifully done

[ATeyken]

The morale of the story is, don't push epileptics into the sea.
Thank you for raising awareness on this pressing issue.

[Dontstopbelievingman]

This is one of the most horrifying stories I've seen or read since I was a kid. The things children do to others in their naivety, and the guilt that follows for the rest of their lives is too real. Incredible visual style and deeply moving at the end.

[jeenandmeforever]

It’s scary,
you don’t want to drown,
but when you can’t trust yourself, the knowledge you can’t drag others down with you, that’s the only comfort you can find.

[adriannamatos]

This is a beautiful piece of work. I interpreted this as how PTSD can consume you like you’re drowning. The trauma consumes him like he’s drowning.

[bbgirl]

He accidentally killed his sister after pushing her into the sea when she had a siezure on the pier. Her seizing reminiscent of the fish on dry land they referenced. I see the fish head as his mind being consumed by what he'd done in the past & the water chasing him being symbolic to him drowning in guilt & depression. The yellow woman, seeming a lover or confidant of some sort, when faced with being unable to save him from his past & grief, too began to be overcome by the water. He ultimately kills himself, reuniting in death with his sister & the yellow woman ultimately free of trying to save him. - her obvious purity & brightness could be symbolic of happiness, warmth, goodness; an opposite to the dark cold water. 🤷‍♀️ Overall beautiful story telling & craftsmanship. Well done.

[llcourt]

I think him pushing his sister in the water wasn’t literal but just a metaphor for him either not being able to save her or being part of what caused her to pass bc he was a child and didn’t know how to handle the situation because I think as a whole water is a metaphor in this I don’t think there was ever really any water just represents the guilt

[lisanidog]

Oh this was painful! I carry a guilt. In 1995 my fiancé was at work and he passed quickly of a heart attack. A month earlier I took him to the hospital. All the tests came out negative. He insisted on leaving. The doctor warned me he should stay. But Mike wanted out so we left. I made sure he took his heart pills. Would he have survived if he stayed? A would he have passed anyway. I told him once if he ever died before me I’d commit suicide to be with him. He said we wouldn’t know each other on the other side. Do you want that? I said no. No more talk about dying he said. But what I admired about him was that he let me say it. What I didn’t know was how strong a bond we had. I lived in the apartment he moved things into but never got to live in, for five years. I had phone grief counciling then in person counciling. It didn’t stop my guilt or depression. Mike decided he’d try to comfort me, and knowing I was a Sensitive he did things. He’s whisper in my ear. He’d run a finger down my nose as he did in life. He’d turn his pictures face down. He never manifested as an apparition. I told him of the time I saw one that scared me so Mike didn’t. But I told him he was scaring me. So he came in dreams. We’d walk on a beach hand in hand saying not a word. Or I’d be in a white glowing room, he’d be standing there staring at me until I saw him and disappear. I can’t control my dreams. All I know is when I start missing him a lot he comes then I feel better for a year or two. I sleep in the bed I helped him make. One night I felt his hand on my side to calm my restlessness before I pushed it off. He’s still watching over me. But the guilt is still there. Would he still be alive had I insisted he stay in the hospital when he wanted to go. He was 41. I long ago smoked his last pack of cigarettes. He had upper dentures and his parents gave me them. I feel like I should’ve made him stay in that hospital. I went through two years of depression after he passed. The cat at the time I had helped me through it. I think Mike knew it was his time. He sent me home after I had lunch with him at his work. He never did that before. He knew I saw my father pass in hospice and Mike didn’t want to put me through it. I still remember our last words before ai left. “You love me?” Mike grinned and said “I’ll think about it.” and he gave me a big hug. I sensed something was off. I waited in the parking lot. Go in? Go home? We were living with his folks at the time until the apartment was all set. I left. My Michael knew it was his time. So he had nothing against me being released from the hospital instead of insisting he stay. Doesn’t stop my guilt.

[PeteKimbrough]

This whole representation was devastatingly artistic and representative of so many struggles I face daily. Thank you for putting in the heart and the work to bring a better understanding of grief and guilt to the audience that we pray never has to endure it.

[blackholesun]

Loved the denim sea! The sea was all consuming.

[fredrikhallstrom]

Man - this was one of the most powerful film experiences I've had in a while.

[FayeVert]

Damn. This tore me up. Yesterday I found out a friend died by suicide. Today is the 3rd anniversary of my dad's death. I needed this. Thanks, algorithm.

[mpozad]

I wonder how many of those with mental health issues will find parallels to their experiences here.

[caitlinpenny]

Guilt can be truly all consuming. You hate yourself for whatever you did (or think you did) and part of wants so badly to be punished to somehow right the scales of the universe. But the problem with most guilt is that as an adult there is no easy answer. You aren’t a child anymore who can be put in time out and when you get up all is forgiven. As we grow older our mistakes feel like they grow larger and apologies seem hollow… sorry to be grim. Story hit me hard… I struggle with guilt constantly. For a long time i felt as this guy felt that the weight of my guilt was unforgivable, that I therefore deserved the misery I felt… even though what I had “done” was all in my head

[slavicpsycho]

Recovering from an addiction to diffrent opioids looks like this for me. Accept the somewhat sad but peaceful ending symbolically for me looks like the high I get when I relapse. I always feel so guilty about it. It's not fair to other people. This is what walking in my shoes feels like. Thank you for this beautiful peace of art!