Solipsist

Highly anticipated since the release of its trailer, Solipsist, directed by Andrew Huang, does not disappoint.
Quite the opposite, in fact. Awarded the Special Jury Prize at the Slamdance Festival in 2012, this psychedelic trance saturated with color continues to earn widespread acclaim.

Andrew Huang
Solipsist

The story begins with what the director calls a “counter-hypothesis” — that of solipsism, which inspired the film’s title. A theory which, by definition, claims that “for every thinking subject, no other reality can exist outside of itself.” Ego at its peak, in other words!

Andrew Huang sets out to demonstrate the opposite. In this mystical gem, he turns toward the idea of unity among living beings, capable of transcending this singular, isolated experience.
The film unfolds in three parts, each illustrating his thesis in its own way: two dancers in a trance wearing increasingly elaborate costumes, an underwater ballet of puppets, and finally, a man and his double disintegrating into whirling clouds of sand. Three segments that flow naturally together, making this audiovisual experiment a complete spectacle.

Form is integral to the film — if not its very pretext. The director chose to emphasize practical effects, as shown in the too-short making-of that accompanies it:

Andrew Huang
Solipsist - Making Of

Filmed against a green screen, with highly detailed costumes and makeup, the creation and animation of traditional puppets, and the filming of real materials (sand, water) in studio give the film a tangible, tactile presence.
As for the extensive post-production phase, it required no less than three months of work, primarily using Maya. Digital effects such as the addition of tentacles to costumes, the multiplication of creatures and their placement in perspective, and even the integration of sand onto the man all contributed to shaping this striking vision.

The film’s enthusiastic reception proves that Andrew Huang has succeeded in his goal — forging a connection with the viewer, mesmerized by these projections of the other, this “being indispensable to my existence,” as Sartre once wrote.