Review of Neighbours

Two neighbours get into a rapidly escalating quarrel over a flower. Norman McLaren's hilarious pixilated paean to peace won the 1952 Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject) - an award was deserved but the category somewhat inappropriate for what is clearly a fantasy film. The film is silent with an odd experimental soundtrack and a surreal look to its (extremely) minimalist set. Like most Canadian kids, I saw the film numerous times in school and remember the class laughing uproariously as the increasingly monstrous neighbours battled, especially when they tore down each other's houses and dispatched both wives and babes (apparently we were allowed to see an unedited version as the attack on the families was often deleted to spare an assortment of sensitivities)). Timeless, kinetic fun with a message that still resonates 70 years later.