jewel.crist - 2015-10-08 08:09:30

A short film that is not for everyone, animated by Studio Deen who amaze me to no end. Not because they're good, but they sometimes pull interesting shows out of their ass like Angel's Egg, trust and betrayal, and other works I probably haven't seen but would intrigue me. The film is adapted from the book by Franz Kafka's, a country doctor. A book after watching this I felt I had to read it. I haven't read it yet. The short isn't at all told in chronological order from the beginning, but it is fragmented for the sake of having something there for the audience to piece together.

Story is quite simple but it definitely asks you to question certain events and characters who I assume have more development or more motivation in the actual book. Explaining it would be a fruitless task as it is quite simple enough that you could follow it if you're not a complete idiot. I'd hate to say it but there isn't much substance to the show if you're not willing to understand what the doctor is going through, and you're just freaked out by the odd animation.

Speaking of the oddity that is the animation. I quite liked not only the style but the stretchy and flimsy character of the doctor. Imagine a slinky and apply the movement of it to everything, literally everything. Not even the setting is saved from the very abstract style. Which is great because I often get tired of alien eyes telling me it's cute when really I think they're going to probe me.

The sound is alright, and it fits perfectly with the film. Odd and whimsical.

Character's are just vessel's for the story, so not much to say.

xhills - 2013-07-11 12:20:20

This short movie isn't for typical anime watchers...but if you are interested in watching anime as an art form, presented in an obscure fashion, then please be my guest.

For more info about the writer:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka

"The true way is along rope,
that is not crossed high in the air,
but only just above the ground.
It seems intended more to cause stumbling,
rather than to be walked upon"

Yamamura, Koji did a splendid job in directing this short movie,the surreal and symbolized treatment of the story, packed with a lot of metaphors and hidden meanings in strong visual imagery is something MUST not be missed by you !!

Music & Voice Acting:- Only one word "Marvelous". Koji used one of the best theater artists for the Voice acting and thus the desired effect is reached. The music feels perfectly synced with the eerie and distorted world setting.

Art:- You may say it's like an experimental animation,the art is very much surreal,obscure,distorted and fresh.

Genres:- Dementia, Drama, Historical, Psychological

Duration:- 21 min.

I think saying that this anime is simply "exceptional" would be enough at this point, i don't want to disclose more. This is an art that you must enjoy and interpret in your own way. But come back here after watching it, it packs a lot of punches and I'll be happy to discuss on every aspect be it visual treatment, direction, use of sound or psychology behind the how. :D

*Spoiler Alert*

-----------------ANALYSIS-------------

Only read this after you have watched the movie.You may or may not agree with me after reading it but I'm open for discussion.

Now I'm going to explain things as I've analyzed and understood them...it took me 3 viewings and 2 readings of the English translated story of "A country Doctor" originally written in German language by the legend himself, to get to this point.

1. The doctor always found to be putting blame on other objects/living beings for his failure.
* lack of horses
* villages aren't helping
* groom pursuing rose
* boy

He has a "it's not my fault" attitude...blaming everything on others. His tone is defensive throughout the movie.

2. There is term like "Spatial and Temporal Connections" exist in Film-Making process, to be more specific it occurs in editing part. It's a part of the narrative effect of the movie and script but here in this movie and story, the narrative part is indicating towards a total---> "Spatial and Temporal Disorder".
* Story keeps on tapping between Past and Present like this
Past->Present->Past->Present...
* Space filled with never-ending blizzard and the suspenseful ending creates the effect of suspension, it keeps you hanging with the story and makes you long for more.
* The Doctor's dilemma of always being in one place and wanting to reach another. (When at his house he wanted to reach patient's house and when at patient's house he wanted to go to his own house)

3. The feeling of aporia and never ending conflict in doctor's mind about the choice he has to make between his professional duty (save the patient) and personal desires (erotic/sexual desire towards Rose).

4. Doubling of things in the story.
* 2 horses ( Goon calls out to them as "Brother" & "Sister"...Patient[ "Brother" ] & his "Sister" )
* 2 rows of teeth (on rose's cheek, bitten by groom)
* 2 carriage rides
* 2 scenes of breaking down the doors (first doctor breaks the door of pigsty and second goon breaks the door to get inside the house and rape rose)
* 2 examination of the patient (first: finds nothing, second: discovers the wound)
* 2 please of patient ("please let me die" and "please save me")
* 2 songs by the children (one threatening and one praising)
* 2 houses (doctor's house and patient's house)
* 2 shadows (who r narrating the story...now i really have a very nice theory about them which we'll discuss a bit later)

It all indicates the same thing, that the doctor is suspended between 2 of his inner desires.

5. Now you might not agree with me but i feel that the goon is like the alter ego of the doctor, the way he appeared from the pigsty whose gate break opens when kicked upon by the doctor and rose's this dialog "One doesn't now the sorts of things one has stored in one's own house", the same way the doctor is trying to be oblivious of Rose's presence in the house even after she is there for year(s), the way they both said "Giddy up!" and the dilemma i wrote about earlier "professional duty and erotic desires". Goon is the manifestation of doctor's alter ego part that is governed by sexual desires.

Now since we are clear on that point, let me show you one more amazing thing in this movie related to doubling. It extends to the character too and see how it connects them and their situations.

First of all we talk about Doctor and Goon.
* Doctor/Goon
* Old/Young
* Tired/Energetic
* Responsibility/Eroticism
* Weak/Strong
* Civilized/Wild like and animal (symbolism of pigsty and how he walked out on all "four" of his hands)
* Wanna Protects Rose/Molests Rose
* Didn't noticed Rose/Noticed only Rose from the start.

Now between Rose and Boy.
* Female/Male
* Rose/Rose-red wound (and the doctor shows him Rose flower)
* victim/patient (both are helpless)
* needs Rescue/needs Treatment

Ah! also when doctor lies naked with the boy patient so it also depicts that how the goon is seducing Rose as Doctor/Groom and Boy/Rose.

Also when doctor first examines the boy he finds nothing (doesn't notice properly) but upon building up pressure when he rechecks he finds the disease ( awakening of sexual desire upon proper notice due to the building up erotic desires crushed with professional duty over the years), also add the children singing : "The doctor's laid in bed with you."

Now who are those children singing, and no they aren't randomly placed for the sake of it. They represents the children died even after doctor's treatment as he's getting old and weak (fails to find disease for the first time and only found it out after family prompts him in the right direction).

6. Coat dragging behind the carriage represents the helplessness of the one who have been "Betrayed!". (To understand many points in the story, read Kafka's detailed description on wiki first...his relationship issues with his father ).

Also the condition of naked,tired,discouraged doctor on the carriage represents disoriented humankind dragging over itself onto the sick and mundane world structure, the sick collective consciousness of the people. Of how he can see the light hanging on a distance but deprived of the warmth from it, not able to reach it.

7. One more thing i found interesting is the line in the end "Once one responds to a false alarm on the night bell,there's no making it good again." This represents that one you give in to your desires there's no going back, you can't mend the ways and you certainly can't make things the same as they were before.

8. We see lots of doctor like guys sitting as the carriage passes by, it means two things "Death" and "Succession". It is an old myth that "if you starts to see yourself in real life, then it means your death is near" and since the villagers said "It's only a Doctor", by saying "it" means they don't consider doctor a living being and will replace him with a new one like an object, shows how the world is becoming mean and mean everyday and how people's thinking is becoming more and more "materialistic".

9. Now finally i said that i have a theory about 2 shadows in the beginning well, i came to this conclusion after going through the "German-to-English translated" script of "A Country Doctor" and movie both. Now give attention when the narration appears, normally both black shadows narrate together and thus the effect is created but there are times when a single shadow speaks at a time, one of them speaks in "present" tense and another speaks in "past" tense and both speak in present tense collectively when the doctor was returning from boy's house and those children sings for the second time, also add the surreal treatment of story and distorting shapes of the characters and i reached the conclusion that it's all a big nightmare running in past when actually story comes in present when "flash" transition appears and doctor's face transforms into goon's and rose's, indicating rose getting raped at the moment, that time we are back in present...!!!

*Sigh* said too much...though off 1-2 more things but forgetting now...oh! well if u guys feel anything more is needed to be add and i missed to see then do let me now...this movie has many more symbols and hidden metaphors.