海角大神

One of the first words we hear from Ruben Brandt, the renowned psychotherapist, is a distress call. 鈥淢y nightmares are getting stronger and stronger,鈥� he reveals, but the nightmares are of a special sort: They all involve imagery from famous paintings. And the characters in them are on the attack. To conquer his fears, he believes he has to steal the paintings 鈥� 13 in all 鈥� in order to defuse their power.聽

This is the nutbrain premise for the extraordinary 94-minute animated film 鈥淩uben Brandt, Collector,鈥� directed by the Slovenian-born artist Milorad Krsti膰, who has lived in Hungary since 1989. This is his first animated feature, which is astonishing given its intricacy and inventiveness.聽

A combination of computer-generated and hand-drawn techniques, the film draws not only on vast swatches of animated film history but on the history of painting and movies, too. If you have an eye for this sort of thing, and a passing knowledge of famous art, the film, if nothing else, will provide a fun opportunity to pick out a pageant of imagery from some of the great treasures of art history. I haven鈥檛 seen anything quite like it since 鈥淵ellow Submarine,鈥� which also drew on a vast catalog of artworks, although the flower-power radiance of that movie is very different from Krsti膰鈥檚 gonzo glow.

In his quest to find peace of mind, Ruben (voiced by Iv谩n Kamar谩s) recruits four of his patients, all thieves, to pilfer the offending 13 canvases from many of the world鈥檚 great museums, including the Louvre, Tate, Uffizi, Hermitage, and Museum of Modern Art. The most daring of the quartet is Mimi (Gabriella H谩mori), a gymnast, stuntwoman, and kleptomaniac with thick green eyeshadow who, early on, is shown making off with Cleopatra鈥檚 fan from the Louvre. The theft itself deliberately draws on the slithery art and jewel heist tropes of a million movies from 鈥淭he Pink Panther鈥� to 鈥淥cean鈥檚 Eleven.鈥澛�

The zoomy car chase sequence that ensues, with the intrepid private detective Mike Kowalski (Csaba M谩rton) in full pursuit, might have sprung from a vintage James Bond movie. The film鈥檚 relentless globe-hopping, which pulls in Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Venice, and Rome, also conjures up a 007 vibe. There are ample helpings of film noir, too, complete with doomy shadows and rain-slicked streets.

Eventually an insurance company offers a $100 million reward to capture the thief it dubs 鈥渢he Collector,鈥� the reasoning being that, since these paintings are far too famous to fence, only a collector would steal them. Edward Hopper鈥檚 鈥淣ighthawks鈥� is one example (Ruben dreams that one of the diner鈥檚 denizens attacks him); so is Andy Warhol鈥檚 鈥淒ouble Elvis鈥� (Elvis pulls a gun on him). In another dream, Venus from Botticelli鈥檚聽 鈥淏irth of Venus鈥� plunges Ruben into the sea, where he is besieged by the weedy sea witch from 鈥淭he Little Mermaid.鈥�

There鈥檚 always something to look at in this movie, although, like some of its Cubist characters, you may need triple eyes, or eyes in the back of your head, to take it all in. At times, the imagery overload can be exhausting. Like some of Terry Gilliam鈥檚 movies, the surplus of ideas may be too much of a good thing. But I would think that, for those who connect to it at all, a second viewing is almost mandatory.聽

And it鈥檚 not just the visual references that fly by. The film is replete with verbal in-jokes, too 鈥� the most nerdy-witty being its title. Ruben Brandt is an amalgam of Rubens and Rembrandt. (I admit it took me a while to register this one.)聽

There鈥檚 even some deft satire of the modern art world (defter than in the recent Netflix horror comedy 鈥淰elvet Buzzsaw,鈥� which also dealt with the murderous power of imagery). A moment worthy of Mel Brooks comes when a couple stares at Rodin鈥檚 sculpture 鈥淭he Thinker,鈥� and the wife remarks that he doesn鈥檛 look that smart. 鈥淎ll muscle, no brain.鈥澛�

Is something more serious going on in this movie than a mere high-flying wingding? I have nothing against wingdings: Both 鈥淭he Lego Movie 2: The Second Part鈥� and 鈥淪pider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse鈥� are terrific recent animated movies that are so visually and comically inventive that I sat there watching them in a state of rapt glee.聽

But 鈥淩uben Brandt,鈥� in its own wacko way, is also making a case for the power of art to both disturb and heal. When Ruben says that art is the key to the troubles of the mind, his meaning is double-edged. Ultimately, what I think Krsti膰 is saying is that we need to look at the world鈥檚 glories whole. Beauty should not be locked away. Grade: A- (Rated R for nude images and some violence.)