As an animated sci-fi epic, Strange Frame: Love and Sax occupies a wholly unique space in the WLW film pantheon. The film has big ideas and a lot of creativity. Where it falters is its execution.
The film is narrated by Parker. Parker explains that in the future, earth becomes uninhabitable so humans leave to settle on other moons and planets in the solar system. However, the price of escape was two generations of indentured slavery which became multiple generations of debt slavery. Born out of this system is Parker’s great love, Naia. Naia was raised to toil in the mines but is a talented singer/songwriter who can ensnare people with her rebellious, anti-establishment songs. Parker, who plays saxophone teams up with Naia to create a musical group. However, as their fame rises, Naia gets a contract from a seedy agent. Suddenly, Naia leaves Parker behind and her music loses its rebellious nature. But when other musicians start dying, Parker rushes to save her love from the same fate.
It’s exciting to see a major sci-fi universe with WLW leads. Sci-fi in general is a rarity in the WLW film canon and Strange Frame marks the only space epic/opera type movie that I know of. The film certainly has many sci-fi staples; spaceships, augmented humanity and other planets all feature in the film. This movie would be borderline impossible to make as a live-action film due to the expense. No film studio would ever shell out the money for a sci-fi epic lesbian love story starring two women of colour. Thank goodness for the medium of animation.
Strange Frame also has an overt political stance. Sci-fi is such a great way to make commentary on society past and present and it’s great that Strange Frame takes advantage of this. Parker and Naia are both black. So the idea of these characters being born into slavery, sci-fi or otherwise is pointed. It not only depicts people of colour being second class citizens or slaves but also touches on how people in power can kill revolutions. When Naia and her protest music gets a record deal, the protest aspect vanishes and she becomes jut another pop star. Like the way “girl power” was a way of commercializing and depoliticizing feminism in the 90’s, so Naia’s initially rebellious music is neutered as is Naia as a potential revolutionary.
It’s also great that this is a case of matter of fact queer leads. In a movie as big and weird as this one, the fact that the core love story is two ladies doesn’t really register. Parker and Naia get to have an epic, sci-fi love story without being trapped in coming out narratives or experiencing much homophobia. The future is now. And by now I mean a movie that takes place in the 26th century made in 2012.
Where the movie really falls down is the look of it. Strange Frame is quite frankly, bad to look at. The 3D animation looks incredibly dated and deeply cheap. Character movements are jerky and they haven’t quite figured out how to make characters interact with each other or their environment. It’s a shame because clearly a lot of creativity went into the look of the film. There’s aesthetic and any given scene is filled with detail and tone. But in turning these visuals into 3D animation, it minimizes the effect. Strange Frame would have been a better looking movie if it was an audio track and the film’s story boards.
Also, the music is a bit of a let-down. For a story that focuses so much on the importance and power of music, the songs sort of suck. They feel very much like an afterthought. Given the plot of the movie, that isn’t ideal. None of Naia’s songs feel like revolutionary anthems. They are at best forgettable and at worst, annoying.
Strange Frame: Love and Sax is a fun entry into the small canon of WLW sci-fi stories. While I desperately want to give the film a positive review, I just can’t get past how damn bad the film is to look at. The choice to utilize 3D animation in 2012 clearly without suitable budget really does affect the impact of this story. Therefore, the best I can give the potential-laden Strange Frame is a mixed review.
Overall rating: 5.7/10
Other WLW films in similar genres
Musician romances
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