Well, I'm all better now. The cold has gone bye-bye. Nice knowing ya. Don't come back, ever. Enough about that, let's talk about a little something that was dropped through my mail-slot this morning.
Don Hertzfeldt is an amazing film-maker. His unique style, his meticulous attention to detail and sense of humor has captured the hearts and minds of many many many, and mine as well. The first time I got exposed to Don's work was when I saw his short "Billy's Balloon", a sadistic portrayal of an evil red balloon and a boy who is subject to the balloons torture. I was about 16 or 17 when I saw it on TV, I think, and I kicked and cursed myself repeatedly for not recording it so I can show it to my friends.
"Billy's Balloon", 1998
A couple of years later, I saw a movie called "Rejected" on TV. Shorts like these don't usually get aired on Swedish TV. I don't know what the reasons were for showing "Billy's Balloon", but in this case I can make a qualified guess, although I don't really know for sure. I may be wrong. Anyway, the animated shorts that are nominated for an Academy Award usually become a part of SVT's (Sveriges Television - Swedish Television) Oscar Evening, which means that SVT airs the nominated shorts before the actual show. "Rejected" was nominated, so I guess it was aired for that reason. I wasn't aware of this at the time, but it has been so the last years I've followed the Oscars. I, once again, failed to record it, so I did the kicking and cursing myself again. Hard.
"Rejected", 2000
So, I was watching "Rejected", and I knew I recognized the style from somewhere, but I couldn't figure out from where. I wrote Don's name down on a piece of paper, so I would remember it, but I lost it somehow. It wouldn't occur to me until years later that Don had done both movies, when I stumbled on to a link to a video online. After a long time downloading (56k dial-up, woo) I saw that I had stumbled upon a low-quality version of "Rejected". For what it's worth, at least it made sure I would remember Don's name from now on. Searched it on the IMDb, and the rest is history.
On to what fell through my mail-slot this morning;
"Bitter films - vol. 1", a collection of all the animated shorts the Don made during 1995 to 2005. This DVD really has everything one could ask for regarding Don's shorts, and more. Once you see his movies back to back, you really take notice on how he has developed as an animator. From the somewhat simple and geniusly wicked "Ah l'amour" to the playful cinematic parody that is "Genre".
"Genre", 1996
The misery of two humans is portrayed in "Lily and Jim", which is about an awkward blind date gone terribly wrong. On to his most evil film, "Billy's Balloon" which I mentioned earlier, and his most popular film to date, "Rejected", which is about the fictional mental breakdown of Don himself as an animator, and about the evil of commercialism that is jammed down our throats on a daily basis.
Buy more. Buy more now. And be happy.
"Lily and Jim", 1997
Last feature on the DVD, but definitely not least, is the overwhelming piece of art that is "The Meaning of Life", which explores the past and future evolution of humans, where we are going, and where we are now. Are we nothing more than ants on a hill, droning and strolling around the world, or can humanity rise to be something more?
The question is asked, but left to the viewer to answer.
"The Meaning of Life", 2005
As if these digitally remastered shorts (supervised by Don himself, who "hated every living second of it", according to the back cover) weren't enough, there's tons and kilos of special features to explore. Everything from camera notes, script pages, sketches, pencil tests, to photographs, audio commentaries, a trivia subtitle track, a documentary and much more. The sheer volume of interesting content that was put on this DVD is a really amazing effort. Simply put, if you're a fan of Don's, a fan of animation, or just a fan of film, you'll want to have this disc. You need it. You really do, you just don't know it yet.
Don is just about done with his latest movie, titled "Everything Will Be OK", which is part one in a future trilogy. If he's moving in the direction that "The Meaning of Life" was pointing to, I think that Don may very well become one of the most creative filmmakers ever.
"Everything Will Be OK", 2006
Visit http://www.bitterfilms.com to order "Bitter films - vol. 1" and for more info about Don Hertzfeldt and his movies.
6 comments:
<3 "Rejected" and "Genre"
Who doesn't? :)
This is the closest thing to verbal fellatio I've ever seen. :D
Why, thank you, Logan. :D Coming from you, it has to be true.
Great review. I need to do one as well ^^
I can't believe people keep asking Don what the two creatures say at the end of MOL. The stars and sunset on the beach pretty much sum it up.
Ricard try to steal a projector that can show dvds. My god it looks great on the big screen. It really glows....I can kind of get the same feeling when I look at the reflections on my glasses lol.
I can't wait for the next film :D
Oh, I'd love to see it on the big screen. I'd love to see every one of his films there one day, back-to-back. Let's keep our fingers crossed. :)
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