If every one of his films was burning in a fire Norman
McLaren said this is one he would want to save.
I can see why as it has a very striking message about loving
your neighbour rather than making war with them. Obviously a political message given when it
was made, but it’s still a timeless moral, nicely accented by that fact that he
puts the message in several languages at the end so he was certainly practicing
what he preached by being inclusive.
The soundtrack for me takes a bit of getting used to simply because
it’s not a traditional soundtrack with actual music it was scratched directly
onto the film itself, one of the trademarks of McLaren along with pixilation,
the style of animation used for this short.
I love that choice too because it allows for funny slapstick do the
choppy nature of this animation style and then goes into this dark creepy turn
as with each hit the men’s faces distort taking this into a brutal reality. It further reinforces that with the death of
the wives and children and the trampling of the flower, the very thing they
were fighting over in the first place and demonstrates the senselessness of
conflict.
This is a great short well worth checking out for its unique
look, sound, and positive message.
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