78 tours

April 4th, 2008

Directed by Georges Schwizgebel.

Description (JHailey): The circle of life. A child sits alone on a playground merry-go-round. All around are images of life: a woman reclining, a couple standing. These images revolve as accordion music fills the air. Circular images - the rim of a coffee cup, the merry-go-round, a record - and couples turning in dance suggest the pleasures and connectedness of life. However, the film also returns to a solitary man alone in a flat. Some staircases are circular and lead to meetings between men and women. The staircase outside his flat is angular. Is he alone and outside the circle?

IMDB link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0409661/

Posted in philosophical, abstract, humanity, life and death, conceptual, classic animation | No Comments »

Harvie Krumpet

November 9th, 2007

Directed and written by Adam Elliot.

Description (Jon Reeves): The sad, strange life of Harvie, who is born into an impoverished Middle European existence, and whose one constant is the book of “fakts” he keeps adding to, worn around his neck. After a childhood tragedy, he emigrates to Australia, where he has a succession of menial jobs, eventually ending up in a retirement home. Along the way, he has a string of bad luck, leaving him with, among other things, a steel plate in his skull that becomes a magnet.

IMDB link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0382734/

Posted in claymation, humanity, time, life and death, funny | No Comments »

Balance

November 1st, 2007

Directed by Christoph Lauenstein and Wolfgang Lauenstein.

Description (fordraff[at]verizon[dot]net) : This short film was completely absorbing and finely worked out. It held my attention from the moment it began until the conundrum of an ending, which earned it a round of applause at the 19th Street Theatre in Allentown, PA, where I saw it. The film illustrates the need for humankind to cooperate and shows what happens when one doesn’t do so, when he puts his selfish interest above the good of the group, even to sending others to their death. One’s selfish pursuit cannot be justified, the film implies, even in the pursuit of art (after all, it was music in the box and the man wanted that music for himself or wanted to explore the interior of the box, i.e., the music, in greater depth). Film has many implications, would repay several viewings and stimulate much discussion.

IMDB link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0096880/

Posted in claymation, humanity, conceptual, weird | No Comments »

La Course à l’abîme

October 26th, 2007

Written and directed by Georges Schwizgebel.

Description: This is quite a different type of animation, one which I could only describe as a morphing painted animation. Although quite chaotic in pace and confusing at times, the animation is a tiny masterpiece in terms of artistic value, and quite a treat for the opera lovers, featuring a beautiful soundtrack, The Damnation of Faust - Scene XVIII, performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Even though it begins close up with a horse riding scene, the camera slowly moves away to reveal that the whole composition is actually a single moving painting that the camera pans around in a spiraling motion. As the action unfolds, it presents a conceptual exploration of the world and humanity itself, with the recurring motif of the horse riders. Although not accessible to any viewer and more less so to those with little patience and tired eyes, this piece of art is well worth watching.

IMDB link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0380282/

Posted in painting, humanity, conceptual, weird, classic animation | No Comments »

Cavallette (Grasshoppers)

October 12th, 2007

Directed and written by Bruno Bozzetto.

Description: Grasshoppers (Cavallette) is a sardonic look at history and make a very effective point about the ultimate realities and who the victors of war really are. The animation is excellently drawn and while the background music isn’t extraordinary, the action and the general message makes it well worth watching. Do not miss this ironic outlook at humanity’s troubled and violent history.

Seeing this animation also makes a poem named “Grass” come to mind, written by Carl Sandburg, which I will allow myself to share with you:

Grass

Pile the bodies up at Austerlitz and Waterloo,
Shovel them under and let me work
I am the grass I cover all.
And pile them high at Gettysburg and pile them high at Ypres and Verdun,
Shovel them under and let me work
Two years, ten years, and passengers will ask the conductor,
What place is this? Where are we now?
I am the grass let me work.

IMDB link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0099696/

Posted in humanity, war, conceptual, classic animation | No Comments »