LA CIGALE ET LA FOURMI (1927)
aka The Grasshopper and the Ant, Jugendrausch, Eva and the Grasshopper
Article 5432 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 4-22-2017
Directed by Georg Asagaroff and Wladyslaw Starewicz
Featuring Camilla Horn, Gustav Frohlich, Else Burkhardt
Country: Germany
What it is: Fable

Grasshoppers party away the summer while the ants work diligently saving for the winter. What happens to the grasshoppers when winter comes?

For the record, I don’t think I’ve seen this complete movie. Two directors are listed, but one of my sources says that Starewicz only directed the animated section. However, my copy is all animated; there is no live action at all, so I’m wondering if for some reason the print I saw was only the Starewicz section of the movie. At any rate, what I saw was self-contained; it tells the well-known fable, though in Starewicz’s own style. The grasshoppers party in a nightclub, playing bizarre musical instruments as the patrons dance. Meanwhile, the ants are trying to work, often while hindered by the pranks and jokes of the other insects. As usual, it’s very creatively done, though occasionally it is a bit difficult to figure out what’s going on. It even has a bit of poignancy; the short ends with a funeral and a crying family of insects. Starewicz’s work is dazzling as always. I just wish I knew more about the full movie and I wonder about the footage I’m missing.