If it wasn't for a brief mention made by François Truffaut about Norman McLaren on his book "Les Films de Ma vie" ("The Movies of My Life"), an recollection of his writing when he was critic, chances were high that I would be an ignorant who never seen the great works made by McLaren. Lucky me this didn't happened since "Neighbours" is one of the greatest short films ever made. Seriously!
In its eight minutes and with a simplicity that knows no boundaries (as explicitly shown at the ending with titles that urge us to "Love Thy Neighbours" in several languages), the movie is about two happy neighbors, the one from the left and the one from the right, living their lives in fulfillment since everything one has the other has as well. Everything's cool up until a flower appear in the property line between both houses which starts an heated, somewhat comic, horrendous fight between both to see who gets the flower. A funny beginning of discussion with humored solutions that becomes quite tragic (but so funny to look at it, except for a strange moment when the fight gets personal and a baby gets kicked far away).
This was shot in pixilation, an stop-motion animation with actors that is amazingly well-made and greatly edited (the first thing that came to my mind while watching it was Talking Heads clip Road to Nowhere). It's so cute, so simple yet it hides a more than an innocent message behind all those charming moments. This was released in 1952 and what was going on at that time that seems to reflect this movie? The war on Korea, conflict between neighbors and with some intervention from the U.S. Can I be more explicit than this? To me, this film is impactant just like Scorsese's "The Big Shave", they say more than what we see. One cannot watch something without taking in consideration the period the artist lived. It's all connected, it's all there. That's what art is all about.
Well-deserved Oscar for Norman and thank you Mr. Truffaut for presenting me this genius. 10/10
In its eight minutes and with a simplicity that knows no boundaries (as explicitly shown at the ending with titles that urge us to "Love Thy Neighbours" in several languages), the movie is about two happy neighbors, the one from the left and the one from the right, living their lives in fulfillment since everything one has the other has as well. Everything's cool up until a flower appear in the property line between both houses which starts an heated, somewhat comic, horrendous fight between both to see who gets the flower. A funny beginning of discussion with humored solutions that becomes quite tragic (but so funny to look at it, except for a strange moment when the fight gets personal and a baby gets kicked far away).
This was shot in pixilation, an stop-motion animation with actors that is amazingly well-made and greatly edited (the first thing that came to my mind while watching it was Talking Heads clip Road to Nowhere). It's so cute, so simple yet it hides a more than an innocent message behind all those charming moments. This was released in 1952 and what was going on at that time that seems to reflect this movie? The war on Korea, conflict between neighbors and with some intervention from the U.S. Can I be more explicit than this? To me, this film is impactant just like Scorsese's "The Big Shave", they say more than what we see. One cannot watch something without taking in consideration the period the artist lived. It's all connected, it's all there. That's what art is all about.
Well-deserved Oscar for Norman and thank you Mr. Truffaut for presenting me this genius. 10/10