Neighbours (1952) 7.8
A surreal story of two neighbours' destructive feud over a flower. Director:Norman McLarenWriter:Norman McLaren |
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Neighbours (1952) 7.8
A surreal story of two neighbours' destructive feud over a flower. Director:Norman McLarenWriter:Norman McLaren |
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This film, shot in pixilation (a kind of stop-motion animation with actors), is about two neighbours who come to barbaric blows over a flower that straddles the property line. Written by Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com>
This is a rather heavy-handed but well made animated short about war. While the message is presented through "sledgehammer symbolism" (i.e., it wasn't exactly subtle), the film's stop-motion cinematography was very nice and well done. It certainly is interesting.
The movie begins with two normal looking 1950s era guy sitting outside their cutout homes. Both are sitting in lounge chairs reading their newspapers (which, in a not so subtle move, have headlines about war). Then, suddenly, a flower appears on the border of their yards and both think it's the most wonderful flower in the world. However, because they both love it so much, they begin fighting over it--almost like in a Tom & Jerry movie! At first, it's kind of funny, but when it degenerates to attacking their wives and babies, the joke is over. Ultimately, it ends on a very fitting note.