Dead Times (1965)
aka Les temps morts
Article 5592 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-4-2018
Directed by Rene Laloux
Featuring Roland Dubillard
Country: France
What it is: Not encouraging

A narrator tells us about the violent nature of man.

It looks like the DVD I have has a few Laloux shorts, so it looks like I’m undergoing something of a Lalouxathon here. This disturbing and depressing short was his second directorial effort; there is a short animated sequence with some truly surreal images (which accounts for its fantastic content), but it’s mostly live footage and still shots, all putting forth the argument that man is an inveterate killer. No, it’s not a fun short, and it is rather preachy, but he does have a point and it’s not easy to shake off. At least it’s only ten minutes long, but you may emerge from this one feeling rather cynical about mankind.