It's So Late And I'm Too Tired To Think of A Creative Title Soooooo.... Russian Films. Yeah.

FIRST WE SHALL ADDRESS THE HEDGEHOG.

SOMEONE HAD TO DO IT KAY

Of the three films we screened on Tuesday, The Hedgehog in the Fog was by far my favorite. Unlike The Street of Crocodiles, it had a comprehensible story (if strange at times) and did not have the dour "everything is horrible" vibe I so despise. Though animated in something of a dark and occasionally grotesque style, it's titular character's design, voice, and plight were so endearing it was difficult not to care what happened. As for the meaning of the tale, it's clear it had something to do with the horse, as the creator made a point of introducing it as important and also ended on it. I'm not entirely certain, but my first reaction to this character was that it was, perhaps, some sort of representation of God. I thought this because the horse was white, and the color white is traditionally associated with divinity and purity. The fog also provided it with an air of mystery that seems crucial to such a parallel. Further, it was far larger than any of the other characters, and loomed over them with something of a soothing presence, despite the many frightening things within the fog. It was also present when the Hedgehog fell in the river that brought him home. I hypothesize, therefore, that the creator was using symbolism to make some point about how God can bring good even from evil (the fog, falling in the river, etc). But again, this is only a guess.

NOW FOR A TALE OF TALES.

A Tale of TAILS, get it?
I DON'T EVEN LIKE SONIC WHY AM I DOING THIS

I found a Tale of Tales highly confusing, and I confess I spent much of its running time wondering how much longer it could go on. That said, I am not so quick to disregard it, as the artistic dedication and planning time this film required is greatly admirable. In the brief documentary we watched, it was posited this film was about "eternity." In a way, I can kind of see this. Throughout the film, there are multiple scenes and events which repeat themselves, such as the part with the kid sharing apples with the crows, the train passing, and the scene where the women receive notifications regarding their dead husbands. I think that, perhaps, this is a device used to illustrate the inevitable continuity of a cycle-- A comment on how, though we constantly throw about the adage, "If you don't learn from history, it's bound to repeat itself," it may be bound to repeat itself REGARDLESS. Perhaps the creator believes in a sort of inescapable chaos of life, and repeated his scenes in an effort to emphasize this. In regards to his success in this endeavor, I must admit that without the comments of the documentary, I may have never come to this conclusion, and may very well have felt similarly about it as I did to The Street of Crocodiles. Thanks to some helpful hints, I do not.

NOW, FINALLY, FOR THE PIED PIPER.

SORRY NO MORE SONIC PUNS
#SOKKARETURNS

I have a hard time describing my reaction to this one. It was certainly very well done and I was impressed by the quality of both the puppets and the puppetry, but I feel it took far too long to actually introduce the Piper into the story. The way it was set up, it could have easily told a story without bringing him in-- and quite honestly, I forgot that that character was meant to appear. After I remembers however, the film began to seem drawn out for me. Several elements seemed extraneous to me, or at least had the possibility of being cut out. The addition of the love interest, for example, though it probably existed to show how the greed of the people of the town had grown so great that they had reduced people to commodities, seemed a bit tacked on to the greater story. Then again, perhaps this is only due to my previous knowledge of the tale. As I mentioned before, I think the point of this film was probably the futility of greed and the ultimate doom it leads people to. Those closed up within themselves become shut of from the world, conniving and cruel, rats in the shadows.  I think the creator wanted to show that eventually this catches up with you. Sadly, however, I feel that the final few minutes muddied the waters a bit, making the Piper seem to be a demon and adding in the confusing extra scene with the old man rescuing the baby. Visually, however, I thought the film was extremely successful as I, having forgotten it was The Pied Piper, still immediately felt that the village looked like a home of (both literal and figurative) rats.

Pretty cool set of films!

NOW I SHALL SLEEP

UP NEXT

PROBABLY SOME FRENCH STUFF

YUP