User Reviews

Little overly-dramatic title perhaps, but this here is one very fanciful and thematically rich short! The 'story' of it was extremely vague and maybe difficult to grasp, to the point where I'd even say there barely was one, but I did manage to understand the grander meanings and symbolisms of all the striking imagery.(I hope!) The animation had a very crystal clear quality to it that was quite distinctive, with the delicate scenery having a beautifully earthy and Gothic look. Although its length may have been relatively brief, it felt very compact and had a great sense of ghostly depth to it. My favourite part was with the boy and girl, who I think were meant to be personifications of winter and spring, and a tree which dazzlingly withered and bloomed as they raced around it. The effect looked amazing, I took the tree to be a metaphor for the ficklety of the human heart, and love in general! Some of it was even a bit on the macabre side, like with the weird skeleton puppies, of which I couldn't begin to hazard a guess at the meaning of! Each second was in its own way chilling and thoughtful, and how it used the haunting visuals rather than any dialogue to drive the hazy dark-dreamlike events forward proved once again that occasionally wordless animations can 'say' so much more. And the music that they used was ideal and perfectly complemented the look and feel of everything. It had such a mesmerising and serene tone, although I personally found it to be more sad and haunting then much else, with this beautiful yet undeniably grim paradise realm of nature where a poor spirit forever chases the one he loves yet can never really touch her, for their opposing natures bring them great harm. He can never have her and thus remains a prisoner to that which he desperately yearns for, but may never possess... Such a wonderful visually poetic, sweet, and poignant short. Love will always, and forever...break your heart.

An stylish allegorical tale about the cycle of life and death in nature.

I liked a lot its haunting, almost tragic tone disregard of the seemingly "adorable" aesthetic: This contrast between dark and whimsical elements made the short work very well, evoking the melancholic beauty of many classic fairytales written by authors like Wilde or Hand Christian Andersen.

I only have a very minor complaint: This might sound like a nitpick, but for some reason, the skull puppies of the winter boy having bone-ears felt a bit off. Maybe it's just me, but I think that was an unnecessary addition to their design. Other than that, "First Fall" is a visually impeccable work which I highly recommend.

A very original use of CGI with a beautiful story.