Animated Short Review: Spare Change: Ryan Larkin, Laurie Gordon Short For National Film Board of Canada

Canadian artist/director Ryan Larkin was one of animation's great tragedies. A visual virtuoso who studied under Arthur Lismer at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and under Norman McLaren at the National Film Board of Canada, Larkin gained international acclaim when his 1969 short "Walking" was nominated for an Academy award.

He swiftly followed it up with 1972's Oscar-nominated short "Street Musique," but various demons (including cocaine and alcohol addiction) were killing the creativity of the man Time magazine had once called "the Frank Zappa of animation."

By 1978, Larkin was a homeless alcoholic, begging for change in front of Schwartz's Deli in Montreal.

Thanks to Chris Landreth's 2004 Oscar-winning animated short "Ryan," which detailed Larkin's rise and fall through various interviews, the troubled animator found a new lease on life. He conquered his alcohol addiciton and rediscovered his creative mojo in the process.

But Larkin's return to artistic relevance – a piece aptly called "Spare Change" – became a posthumous event when he succumbed to lung cancer in 2007.

Ryan Larkin, Laurie Gordon Direct National Film Board of Canada's "Spare Change"

A standard injunction is "speak no ill of the dead." However, when it comes to "Spare Change," this dictum is unneeded. It's a wonderful short that delves deep into Larkin's psyche: a fragile, highly creative individual who ended up homeless. His interactions with other street people, abusive teenagers and a highly incensed St. Peter ("In case you hadn't noticed, this is my spot!") are alternately witty and heartbreaking, complemented by Larkin's exuberant hand-drawn animation.

Although his art is firmly rooted in the psychedelic Sixties, the immediacy and power of his subject matter gives it an urgency that's timeless. It's clear that Larkin's 27-year time in the wilderness didn't affect his ability to marry compelling imagery and story.

Since Larkin died before the short was completed, his manager Laurie Gordon took it upon herself to finish it. This results in the film's most jarring shift, when "Spare Change" suddenly becomes a music video for her band CHIWAWA's song "Do It For Me."

While it's admirable that Gordon finished Larkin's final opus, the fact that it suddenly becomes a promo for her band leaves a foul taste over the whole affair. Whether it's intended or not, Gordon has cheapened herself and Larkin's legacy by using his artistic revival to promote her endeavours.

The Final Analysis

"Spare Change" is unfortunately two films cobbled together: Larkin's compelling meditation on his life on the streets, paired with a music video for Gordon's band featuring his imagery. This gives the short a disconnected feeling: is Gordon trying to snag some free publicity for her group by hitching it to the Larkin gravy train? It sullies what should have been an artistic triumph.

Jun 25, 2009 7:15 AM

ryanbango :

Your review sullies Ryan Larkin's final efforts in it's doubtful cynicism. Ryan had "Spare Change in his head for years before I met him. Ryan himself chose the video format as a template. His final film should be celebrated not cheapened with gossip & speculation. Ironically, the section you call arggh! "the music video" has most of Ryan's full animation he drew himself and he referred to it as the "Finale."Don't diss the WSFF either, they had a section dedicated solely to music videos. Ryan chose the song and considered"Spare Change" the continuation of "Street Musique" utilizing a pop video form. Ryan never wanted to be artistically pigeonholed and always collaborated with musicians for his films. A year after Landreth's Ryan film won an Oscar, the real Ryan Larkin, not virtual "Ryan", was still on welfare and got kicked out of the Mission Homeless Shelter, his home for 7 years. So much for fame. I had to beg & borrow for "Spare Change" with a script Ryan wrote entirely on his own. The Academy Awards long over, the world had moved on and Ryan was still on the street. No one wanted to touch "Spare Change". NOBODY. Did I mention he was terminally ill? Did you take him for treatment? Did you make a donation for Spare Change? Did he move into your home? OK so shhh...
Are the buskers who collaborated with Ryan's in "Street Musique" circa 1972 when he was a fresh Oscar nominee also dubious? I met Ryan in 2002, 3 years before Chris Landreth's film "Ryan" was released. I had seen a disturbing news report on CBC's Disclosure about Ryan's plight, describing how all his art had been lost & stolen and this affected me enormously. I went looking for Ryan on the frigid streets of Montreal with an idea that perhaps if he was interested, he could draw a few pictures for my band's video to a song of his choice. Ryan got really excited about this collaboration which lifelong he had so enjoyed as an artistic process. Ryan began telling people he was making his comeback film but nobody believed him.Something tells me you would not have believed him either.
Ryan was a rock drummer since he was 13, and had had several pop bands i.e.Ryanbango- music was Ryan's unrequited dream, his other passion.
It is sad that you mashed negativity into such a positive story. Ryan starts his first film in 35 years and didn't die in a gutter but alas we need dirt to perpetuate shoddy journalism in the name of Google Ad revenues- Now who's the brownnosed a Svengali, yeah?

Jun 25, 2009 7:19 AM

ryanbango :