What definitely could have been an animated epic ultimately is somewhat disappointing in spite of its success in achieving some of its goals simply because it tries too much in a short period of time to create an epic story that fails to land. Ralph Bashki tries to tell the story of four generations of a Jewish Family from their time exiting Russia to 1980, and while it's very admirable, it definitely needed more than a little more than 90 minutes to unfold everything. You barely get to know any of the characters as they fade out as the generations go on, and thus, it's simply the shell without anything inside.
What you do get however is a glimpse of history as seen through this family, and the music soundtrack is wonderful although many songs are only heard for seconds before it moves on. But it definitely does open the door to the viewer wanting to learn more about immigrant life in the great boom of the early 20th Century, and with many stories out there that have covered this territory, there's plenty to read or watch. The animation is done very well, although it's odd to see the type of characters you've seen in the flesh on screen as basic cartoon drawings. The film does get a little violent as it covers the violence of the Cossacks attacking the Russian village and other violence that befell the family over the years. Some of the story does get a bit depressing because it does seem like nothing is going to be resolved or success really achieved even as the family makes it in America, because ruthlessness takes over, showing that often times victims became the persecutors. Still a noble goal that I wish I could have given a higher rating to, because it definitely strived to be something important but never fully achieved that.
What you do get however is a glimpse of history as seen through this family, and the music soundtrack is wonderful although many songs are only heard for seconds before it moves on. But it definitely does open the door to the viewer wanting to learn more about immigrant life in the great boom of the early 20th Century, and with many stories out there that have covered this territory, there's plenty to read or watch. The animation is done very well, although it's odd to see the type of characters you've seen in the flesh on screen as basic cartoon drawings. The film does get a little violent as it covers the violence of the Cossacks attacking the Russian village and other violence that befell the family over the years. Some of the story does get a bit depressing because it does seem like nothing is going to be resolved or success really achieved even as the family makes it in America, because ruthlessness takes over, showing that often times victims became the persecutors. Still a noble goal that I wish I could have given a higher rating to, because it definitely strived to be something important but never fully achieved that.