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U svojim dvadesetima, nakon kratke karijere u<br />
televizijskoj komercijalnoj industriji, Driessen je dobio životnu<br />
priliku kada mu je George Dunning ponudio posao<br />
glavnog animatora na filmu Beatlesa Žuta podmornica<br />
(1968). U Londonu se stopio s hipijevskom kulturom kasnih<br />
60-ih te doživio novu, dotad nepoznatu slobodu u<br />
mediju animacije. Dunning je svoje animatore poticao<br />
da šire granice mašte, što je mladog Paula Driessena<br />
zasigurno ohrabrilo. Poigravanje s ljudskim opažanjem,<br />
stvaranje novih pravila, preobražavanje značenja u grafičkom<br />
prikazu i preoblikovanje linije, zavoja i plohe—sve<br />
te značajke prisutne u Žutoj podmornici u njegovim će<br />
se vještim rukama razviti u nov i vrlo originalan stil.<br />
Nakon završetka svog prvog nezavisnog filma, Priča o<br />
malom Johnu Baileyu (1970), u kojem je eksperimentirao<br />
sa slikom u slici (tehnika koju će usavršiti u kasnijim<br />
filmovima), Driessen je dobio priliku raditi u kanadskom<br />
Nacionalnom odboru za film (NFB). U to je vrijeme NFB<br />
bio sigurna luka za filmske umjetnike iz čitavog svijeta.<br />
Frankofoni odjel za animaciju, za razliku od anglofonog,<br />
uglavnom se usredotočio na čisto vizualni pristup. Bilo<br />
je to idealno mjesto gdje je Driessen mogao oživotvoriti<br />
bujicu svojih novih ideja, od kojih je prva bila Izgubljeno<br />
plavetnilo (1972). U tom filmu horizontalna linija dijeli<br />
bijeli ekran, predstavljajući na trenutke horizont, zatim<br />
razinu vode, pa žicu, te tako čini osnovu kratke priče<br />
o cvijeću, ribama i ptici koji pokušavaju doći do zraka<br />
zbog manjka kisika.<br />
Jasna i razumljiva poruka filma Izgubljeno<br />
plavetnilo do današnjega dana nije izgubila značenje.<br />
No ekološke poruke, društveni angažman ili tekuća pitanja<br />
ustvari i nisu Driessenovo područje. Izrugivanje<br />
čovječanstvu nekako se doima boljim izrazom za opis<br />
njegove glavne preokupacije. Nadahnjuje se bajkama,<br />
mitovima, biblijskim pričama, klasičnim filmovima i komedijama—oblicima<br />
koji ukazuju na nedostatke naših<br />
ljudskih života. U Driessenovim filmovima stvari su rijetko<br />
onakve kakvima se čine. On pomiče našu perspektivu<br />
prema novom, neočekivanom kutu gledanja. Upravo su<br />
zato njegovi filmovi bezvremenski: ne samo novija, nego<br />
not based on topical events or historical reality, but on<br />
his lively, but also somewhat disconnected fantasy.<br />
In his twenties, after a short lived career in the<br />
television commercial industry, Driessen got the opportunity<br />
of a lifetime when George Dunning offered him a<br />
job as key animator on the Beatles film Yellow Submarine<br />
(1968). In London Driessen was drenched in the hippie<br />
culture of the late sixties and experienced a new, hitherto<br />
unknown freedom in the animation medium. Dunning<br />
encouraged his animators to push the outer limits of<br />
their fantasy. This must have triggered the young Paul<br />
Driessen. Playing with human perception, creating new<br />
sets of rules, transforming meaning in graphic representation<br />
and reshaping line, curves and planes—all<br />
those things present in the Yellow Submarine would in<br />
his skillful hands evolve into a new highly original style.<br />
After finishing his first independent film The<br />
Story of Little John Bailey (1970), in which he experimented<br />
with picture-in-picture (a technique he would<br />
refine in his later work), Driessen got the opportunity<br />
to work at the National Film Board of Canada. At the<br />
time the NFB was a safe haven for filmmakers from all<br />
over the world. Its French-speaking animation department,<br />
unlike its English counterpart focused on a purely<br />
visual approach. This was the ideal place for Driessen<br />
to realize his incessant stream of new ideas of which<br />
Le bleu perdu/Air! (1972) was the first one. In this film<br />
a horizontal line bisecting the white screen, representing<br />
alternately a horizon, the water level and a wire, is<br />
the basis for a short story about flowers, fish and a bird<br />
gasping for air because of a lack of oxygen.<br />
The clear cut message of Le bleu perdu/Air!<br />
hasn’t lost its meaning up to this day. However, environmental<br />
messages, social engagement or current affairs<br />
are not exactly Driessen’s cup of tea. A mockery on the<br />
human condition seems to be a more applicable phrase<br />
to describe his main preoccupation. He finds inspiration<br />
in fairy tales, myths, Bible stories and classical films<br />
and comedies, which all show the flaws in our human<br />
existence. Things in Driessen’s films are seldom what<br />
majstori animacije / masters of animation<br />
paul driessen<br />
32—33
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