Chelovek v ramke (1966)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Fyodor Khitruk

Writer:

Fyodor Khitruk (screenplay)

Genre:

Animation | Short

Also Known As:

Man in the Frame (International: English title)

Runtime:

10 min

Country:

Soviet Union

Color:

Color

Company:

Soyuzmultfilm

I Was Framed!

I have to give this points for originality, and perhaps another point simply for "guts," but otherwise it mostly a boring 10 minutes.

In a nutshell, this 1966 Russian film makes a statement about bureaucrats. It actually makes fun of them which was not an easy thing to do in Russia during this time. Director Fyodor Khitruk had guts to make this. The story is told through a man who seen in a picture frame. There are about a half-dozen "chapters" about life in the business world, or in the office of a big business and we see how this man reacts to different situations.

The artwork is interesting, more than the story. The man does things inside the frame, but often reaches out to do other tasks, which include leery at a busty secretary, kissing up to a big boss....the normal stuff that's taken for granted in the Western World but, I assume, rarely shown in Russia in the mid '60s. It does go to show you that people are people, wherever you do, whatever the culture. You can see similar actions in an office in Japan, U.S., Mexico, Australia, wherever.

The animation is so original that you might be fascinated with it, but I would guess most audiences today might get bored after about halfway through.