The Age of Commercialism

That was an excellent one.

Must See Movie...

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Probably Władysław Starewicz's most creative short, "Fétiche" ("The Mascot" in English) pulls out all the stops. It depicts a stuffed dog who gets more than he bargained for when he tries to find a girl an orange. Part live-action, part stop-motion, it shows that you don't need a high budget or a lot of equipment to make a good story. I like Starewicz's works a lot more than these animated features starring the celebrities of the moment.I'd say that Starewicz's works grew more interesting after he moved to France. They turned more surreal and in-your-face. The fact remains that just about anything can be art. You're sure to love this one.

I've seen several other shorts by the Russian-born Wladyslaw Starewicz. After fleeing the country during the Revolution, he ended up in France where he made a bunch of really well made stop-motion films. Oddly, while he was very talented and came well before Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen and Jan Svankmajer--all who are much more famous for this work today--even though Starewicz was (in my opinion) better and did his work decades before them. It's sad as he rarely gets notice. Perhaps his films just need to be made more widely available. Of course, the same could also be said for the wonderful stop-motion comic, Charley Bowers.The film begins with a lady sewing together a child's stuffed dog toy. The dog comes to life and hears the lady's young daughter ask for an orange--something the poor family cannot apparently afford. So, the sweet toy decides to go looking for an orange for the girl--and soon meets up with LOTS of very creepy stop-motion characters--including some demons! Well, the faithful dog doesn't give up and ultimately returns home to the child...with an orange.While the story is very simple and creepy, you can't help but admire the quality of the animation--it's top-notch throughout. The only negative other than the creepiness of some of the characters (making it not a good choice for young kids) is the dubbing of the child's voice--it sounds weird and unnatural--like an adult trying to sound like a kid. Still, there's a lot to admire in this short--an awful lot. And, by the way, the film is a bit like "Nightmare Before Christmas" in style, believe it or not.

This was shown this afternoon on Sky channel 201 in the UK and by chance I caught just the last 9 minutes knowing nothing about it. But two things were quickly apparent - how reminiscent this 1934 animation short was to the work of Tim Burton. And how this was some of the best stop-frame animation I've ever seen - I still don't know how some of it was done, it perhaps is a mixture of techniques. The dark quirkiness suggested East Europe, the charm that it was French. While the overall appearance, darkness and quirkiness are to be seen in Tim Burton's productions, some of the effects achieved I have not seen anywhere else. It is startling when some movement of a puppet is so natural that it looks alive. The maker was originally an entomologist who had experimented with filming insects and analysing their movements frame by frame. I think he may have done the same with human behaviour. There are subtleties about human (and animal) behaviour in The Mascot I don't think any later animator has equalled - and now there is a vast industry making CGI versions of humans yet they have still missed some things. It is a masterclass.

This work of animation is technically excellent; often brilliant. But most of it is as nightmarish as anything produced by the brothers Quay. Adults interested in animation should consider this work a must-see. Young children, on the other hand, will be injured by it. I find it rather chilling that it was made to be shown to them.BTW, the English-language dubbing is rather crude; it would be better to see with the original soundtrack; none of its sense should be lost.