“Danny Madden‘s Euphonia is a love story between a boy and his digital recorder. It’s an experimental work with plot momentum that intensifies imagery through pristine, almost violently clear sound design. With moments of zen-like beauty and maddening disorientation, it might just be the most inventive coming of age story since Never Let Me Go. Exploring the idea of replacing a boring world with exactly what you want to hear is a fascinatingly relevant one – and here at least, we get a glimpse of how that can block out elements of surprise, discovery and growth. A device has created a new way to connect with the world, but as soon as it becomes the obsession, the world starts to take a backseat.”
That’s what I wrote in my review of this hour-long, experimental character study back when it played SXSW, but now Euphonia is out of the festival cycle and running freely into the wild.
It’s a very cool movie, and its creators are doing something just as experimental with its distribution by giving it away. Naturally it doesn’t fit into the mold most distributors go after, but it’s encouraging to see Madden and company offer it to the world despite not making their money back. If the responses are any indication, fans are happy they did, too.
You can see it at Vimeo, it’s embedded below if you hate clicking links, and if you only want a taste, the trailer is below that.