The Glassworker

The-Glassworker
The Glassworker

“The Glassworker” is a steampunk fantasy romance done in an anime style. Its novelty is that it is the first of its kind from Pakistan and it is Pakistan’s entry to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for nomination in the Best International Feature category.

It was directed by Usman Riaz and a screenplay written by Moya O’Shea. The plot is set in the historical context of Pakistan’s perennial strife and depicts them in a faux Victorian world filled with flying machines, valiant soldiers on foot and horseback, and what no Pakistani town can be complete without a local djinn.

The story tells of an apprentice glassblower who becomes an artist in glass, and who has been in love with an army officer’s daughter since they were children. Its catchphrase is ‘“Artists have to create” and there is hardly any nationalism and militarism to be found in this.”

That’s just one of the obstacles that stand in the way of Vincent’s love for Alliz. Caine is the fifth-generation glassblower in his family business Oliver Glassworks. Caine meets Alliz when about 11 years of age and at that time he is still quite young to have blown his own glass and she is already a child prodigy on violins.

He disobeys his father Tomas, claiming there is a rule in the house that allows using the kiln only with his supervision. Because Dad is unnaturally enthusiastic about keeping him at home and saying “What you NEED to learn about is making glass”, the odds are that Dad will likely let it slide this time around

The plot of Alliz and Vincent progresses in the form of flashbacks. He is now a well-known artist who is having a solo exhibition at the Crystal Palace, which is located at the Waterfront Town. Marie has been out of his life and contact for many years now but she has sent him a letter.

In their youthful days, they clicked and clashed. She is the col. Amano’s daughter. On the other hand, Father is fiercely against the armed forces and militaries of all kinds. She is a good player by the time Kane meets her. But she only “interprets” what other people do. This design is done by him, and in response, he offhandedly says “Artists CREATE,” to which he is older, mature, and producing now his own hand-crafted pieces of art glass. They are in fact not only to them that perform.

As they grow older, a love triangle develops one who actively pursues her is Malik (her classmate who is now a soldier under her father). Vincent’s circumstances do not allow him the opportunity to reach out to Alliz, let alone disclose his feelings for her.

Somewhere in the works there is a lot of glass blowing, explore the ‘best sand’ for the glass & such. The parents apparently didn’t agree but this storyline was dropped even when it comes to one of the main characters.

In their order, the design is retro steampunk zeppelins powered with steam, airplanes are sleek and modern but people walk or ride horses instead of using the machines.

The names on the streets and letters are only in English but they edited the voiceover to Urdu with the hope that the world saw it was the right move for The Glassbower.

It’s difficult to compare the outcome of the film with Studio Ghibli’s anime steampunk films like Howl’s Moving Castle which is just the starting work from this first-time feature film animation start-up. But it’s not bad even if the plot is very much undemanding. Is it actually strong enough to make an impact in the Best Animated Feature category? Most likely not, not with the smooth sophistication of Pixar, Disney and Dreamworks films as rivals.

But “The Glassworker” in fact is a painstakingly made testament that in the Middle Eastern region too, the animation revolution will be televised, and for that matter, in cinemas too.

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