Pan Twardowski (1936)

PAN TWARDOWSKI (1936)
Article 5315 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-5-2016
Directed by Henryk Szaro
Featuring Franciszek Brodniewicz, Kazimierz Junosza-Stepowski, Maria Bogda
Country: Poland
What it is: Faustian legend

Pan Twardowski sells his soul to the devil for supernatural powers, but attempts to trick him by making it impossible for him to collect.

The copy I found of this one was in Polish without English subtitles, but I wasn’t totally lost; it’s a variation on the Faust story, and it’s based on a well known Polish legend, so I was able to do a bit of research and read about the legend. Yes, some of the details did elude me, but I got the gist of it. This one clearly belongs in the realm of fantastic cinema; some of the scenes involving Satan are moody and scary, and Twardowski does exercise his magical powers several times during the course of the movie. It’s a fun movie in its way, though it does have a few problems; the music in particular is problematic, and there are times where it gives the scene a comic touch where none is intended. It’s also well acted, though it does get quite a bit theatrical at times. At any rate, it’s nice to take a foray into the world of Polish cinema, which has rarely happened in this series.

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Dobry vojak Svejk (1955)

DOBRY VOJAK SVEJK (1955)
aka Usody dobreho vojaka Svejka, The Good Soldier Svejk
Article 5314 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-4-2016
Directed by Jiri Trnka
Featuring the voice of Jan Werich
Country: Czechoslovakia
What it is: Puppet animation satire

An eager recruit named Svejk wishes to serve his country during World War I, but he drives his superiors crazy. Is he an imbecile? Insane? Or possibly a spy?

The last movie I saw by Jiri Trnka told its adaptation of a Decamaron story without a word of dialogue, so it could be understood by someone not familiar with the Czech language. That’s not the case with this one; it’s heavy with dialogue, and the print I saw was not only in Czech, but featured a second voice-over saying the dialogue in a different language, probably Russian. Was I able to follow it? No, not a word. I do know, however, that “The Good Soldier Svejk” is a popular Czechoslovakian satire about a WWI soldier who drives his superior crazy due to his antics. I was hoping to find a plot description of the book to help me, but the novel is quite episodic, and this adaptation only covers three incidents in the book. The book sounds quite interesting, and I may try to find an English copy and read it some day. This does not help me at this point, though. The movie is well-animated, and it looks like it could be a lot of fun; I particularly love Svejk’s always-smiling demeanor. However, as far as the story goes, I’m totally lost. Furthermore, I was unable to find a shred of fantastic content, and the Walt Lee guide which lists this gives no clue as to what that content might be. Is it possible that the fact that it involved puppet animation was the sole reason for its conclusion? I don’t know, but if I read the novel someday, maybe I’ll know.

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The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish (1937)

THE TALE OF THE FISHERMAN AND THE FISH (1937)
aka Skazka o rybake i rybke, The Fishmonger and the Fish
Article 5313 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-3-2016
Directed by Alexander Ptushko
Voice cast unknown
Country: Soviet Union
What it is: Animated fable

A poor fisherman catches a fish of gold that offers a ransom for its life, but the fisherman lets it go for free. However, when his wife hears, she berates the fisherman and demands he go back and ask the fish for a new wash tub. He does so, and the wish is granted, but the wife is still not satisfied and asks for more. Will she end up asking for too much?

The copy I found of this short had English subtitles, which I really didn’t expect, but I’m happy about it anyway. However, I’m not sure I would have really needed them; the story is familiar enough (I’m sure I saw a version in “Fractured Fairy Tales”) and is easy to follow. It’s a charming and rather sad version of the tale, and the puppet animation is quite good. It was directed by Alexander Ptushko, and to some extent, it appears that his career parallels that of George Pal’s; they both began with puppet animation, but moved on to epic feature work. Ptushko would go on to direct such films as THE SWORD AND THE DRAGON and THE DAY THE EARTH FROZE, two favorites of mine.

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Rhythmus 21 (1923)

RHYTHMUS 21 (1923)
aka Rhythm 21
Article 5312 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-2-2016
Directed by Hans Richter
No cast
Country: Germany
What it is: Abstract animation

No plot

Yes, it’s more avant-garde experimental abstract animation here. This one mostly involves white and black rectangles on black and white backgrounds growing larger or shrinking; I assume the rhythm is captured by the speed at which these rectangles change size. It’s pretty much what you might expect from an early attempt at abstract animation; it’s watchable if you’re in the mood, but hardly exciting or compelling.

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Archandel Gabriel a pani husa (1965)

ARCHANDEL GABRIEL A PANI HUSA (1965)
aka Archangel Gabriel and Mistress Goose
Article 5311 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-1-2016
Directed by Jiri Trnka
No cast
Country: Czechoslovakia
What it is: Animated Decameron tale

A monk seduces a woman by a disguising himself as the archangel Gabriel. However, when word gets around, her relatives lay in wait to seize the impostor.

Jiri Trnka was a master of animated puppet animation, and this adaptation of a bawdy tale from the Decameron shows him in top form. For me, one of the most interesting accomplishments in this short is that it takes a literary tale and makes it entirely visual; the only place where subtitles are needed are during the opening credits, and any conversation that takes place during the short is muttered gibberish. In this, Trnka combines puppet animation with cutout animation (similar to Terry Gilliam’s style), though the latter is used mostly during the opening credits and the first scene, in which the monk preaches about salvation and damnation using only gesture, music and visual cues. I particularly like the little character gestures Trnka gives his characters. The main fantastic content is the use of an angel, and though it’s a man in disguise, the real archangel Gabriel makes a fleeting appearance.

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Rainbow Dance (1936)

RAINBOW DANCE (1936)
Article 5310 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-30-2016
Directed by Len Lye
Featuring Rupert Doone
Country: UK
What it is: Experiment film advertisement

No plot.

If you start watching experimental films of this sort, you will sooner or later start being able to pick out favorites (that is, if you don’t hate the whole form altogether). I’ve decided that Len Lye is one of those that I really like. At least partially the reason is that the examples I’ve seen have also been advertisements (in this case, it’s for the General Post Office), and this tends to add a little more sense of purpose. Also, instead of relying on pure abstraction, Lye likes to play around with concrete images as well; among all the colorful hand drawn abstraction, we have a silhouette dancer performing such actions as opening an umbrella and playing (and watching) tennis. Another plus is that Lye tends to keep his films a bit short; I get the sense that he knows when enough is enough. I liked this one, though I should point out that I didn’t see a version with the original musical soundtrack; apparently, this is a film that is often used by composers as an inspiration for soundtrack writing, so there are several copies out there on YouTube with music by various individuals.

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Pochta (1929)

POCHTA (1929)
aka Mail
Article 5309 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-29-2016
Directed by Mikhail Tsekhanovskii and N. Timofeev
No cast
Country: U.S.S.R.
What it is: Tribute to mailmen

A young boy mails a caterpillar to a man in Leningrad, but it is discovered that the recipient of the letter has left to go to Berlin. The letter than begins an around-the-world journey to try to catch up with its target.

I’m beginning to think that the Walt Lee guide added many of its animated movies to the list largely due to a certain innate non-reality inherent to the form. In terms of story, there isn’t really anything here that qualifies (except, perhaps, the impossibility of the survival of a caterpillar in an envelope making an around-the-world journey) as fantastic content, though I will admit that some of the striking imagery is highly stylized. Setting aside this issue, though, I do have to admit that I found myself quite charmed by this animated short; the imagery is striking and entertaining, the story has a certain wit, and the Soviet propaganda is on the good-humored side in its celebration of the dedication of the common worker. Incidentally, I had to watch this one twice; the first copy I found on YouTube was nearly impenetrable, but I almost immediately found another one with English subtitles to help me get the gist of it.

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Porky the Wrestler (1937)

PORKY THE WRESTLER (1937)
Article 5308 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-28-2016
Directed by Tex Avery
Featuring the voice of Joe Dougherty
Country: USA
What it is: Early Warner Brothers cartoon, Tex Avery style

Porky is mistaken for a wrestler and thrown in the ring to battle a huge foe.

There are several anthropomorphic animals in this one, and if this weren’t a Tex Avery cartoon, that would probably be the total fantastic content here. But since this is a Tex Avery cartoon, there’s always a chance that the jokes could become so outrageously strange that it turns into a virtual fantasy. That moment happens here after the huge wrestler swallows someone’s pipe, and then proceeds to go into an imitation of a locomotive, a gag that starts sending its tendrils in some positively surreal situations. It’s not Avery at his best (he had to leave Warners before that would happen), but it’s still very good for a thirties Warners cartoon, and it was certainly a lot more fun than the previous Porky Pig cartoon I saw. Outside of the train gags, the best gag is a running one involving one wrestler’s unpronounceable name.

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Jeux des reflets et de la vitesse (1925)

JEUX DES REFLETS ET DE LA VITESSE (1925)
Article 5307 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-27-2016
Directed by Henri Chomette
No cast
Country: France
What it is: Experimental film

No plot

I encountered Chomette just a couple of months ago with CINQ MINUTES DE CINEMA PUR, which didn’t do much for me due to its abundance of static shots. Apparently, he learned; this one is full of movement, with many of the shots being from fast moving trains and boats, which makes it much more interesting from a visual perspective. The opening sequences are shot through a prism, so the objects are unidentifiable, and here is where the fantastic content is, if there is any. The sequence where we see the lights in a train tunnel is interesting when it starts because we’re not sure what we’re looking at. There’s a few other tricks, including a clever transition from riding a train to riding a boat, and he uses fast motion and double exposure to good effect at times. Still, much of this is less effective nowadays, as many of the techniques in use here were used by more conventional movies; think of how many times you’ve seen trains running over you on ground level like it does here in other movies. At any rate, this is much better than the previous movie mentioned.

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Reason and Emotion (1944)

REASON AND EMOTION (1944)
Article 5306 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-26-2016
Directed by Bill Roberts
Featuring the voice of Frank Graham
Country: USA
What it is: Wartime propaganda, Disney style

The battle for control of the human will between reason and emotion is exemplified.

In some ways, this wartime propaganda short is a precursor to the recent Pixar film INSIDE OUT, in that it portrays two aspects of the human psyche battling for control of their host. It’s perhaps most effective in showing how unbridled emotion can give way to bad decisions and stress; the scene where a man finds himself reduced to a nervous wreck after having been hammered by a series of paranoid statements from various sources is my favorite moment. Though it can’t help but simplify things overmuch (it’s only an eight-minute cartoon, after all), it is still useful and relevant, and as such, transcends the propagandistic nature of its conception.

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