Horst in Translation ([email protected])
Everything Will be OK - Californian Academy Award nominee Don Hertzfeldt wrote, directed and narrated this 16-minute movie 10 years ago when he was around 30. It's maybe his fastest movie, especially in the first half where Hertzfeldt is constantly speaking pretty much without a break. It's absolutely spot-on , down to the smallest detail. The references he mentions may seem random at first, but if you think about it, it all makes sense. Unfortunately, you will miss the next three sentences if you think about it, so this film definitely deserves more than one watch. I have to say, going only by the first half I may have rated this a 10. The second half is inferior, but it's still pretty good. I guess after watching this, it's safe for me to say that Hertzfeldt is my favorite animation director right now and I am totally looking forward to his next films. I hope there will be many more to come and I am positive that he could also come up with a truly awesome live action movie as he has proved on so many occasions in his short films that he possesses great perception about the human should. His animation style is very unique. But there is also a raw truth to his films, an approach that I have not seen in anybody else's work. Apart from that, Hertzfeldt of course also has an amazing voice as a narrator. Everything will be okay, but this film will be just great if you decide to watch it what I hope you will because otherwise you are truly missing out. Highly recommended.I Am So Proud of You - This is a 7-year-old movie by Oscar-nominated director Don Hertzfeldt. It's animated with his unique style as always and runs for 21 minutes. I am a really great fan of the director's works and I must say this one here is neither among his finest films nor among his weakest. It basically tells us first the family history of main character Bill and later puts the focus more on Bill himself. The absolute best about this short film is obviously Hertzfeldt's narration. His voice fits his style so perfectly and I really love the contrast between the almost poetic descriptions with the very raw animation style. And also in terms of emotion, this short film is a winner. The quote about "dust and moonlight" is particularly memorable just like the doctor's note to Bill's mother. But there is more. Lots of death, tragedy which is all somehow depressing and entertaining at the same time, so that you cannot really listen away. The only thing I did not really like here was the inclusion of live action scene. Other than that, good job from Hertzfeldt and I recommend this short movie.It's Such a Beautiful Day - This is my review for "It's Such a Beautiful Day", the short film that runs slightly over 20 minutes. This is also the last chapter of the feature movie that has the exact same name. And it was worthy closure. Academy Award nominee Don Hertzfeldt did a really fine job here ending this memorable trilogy. This last part was actually slightly more uplifting than the previous two, even if Bill obviously still has his brain tumor. Hertzfeldt did a really good job with the dialogs again and the highlight of this one here may be Bill meeting his father again with both their memories fading away. The final shot of Bill in space is a winner too. I certainly enjoyed watching this short film and I highly recommend it. Of course, not everybody will appreciate Hertzfeldt's style of animation and narration as much as I do, so you may want to start with one of his shorter works. His approach is very similar in these as well. However, if you get to like him, you are in for a treat. His perception of human interaction and behavior is outstandingly down to the smallest detail. Thumbs up for this one and I am really curious about that Don Hertzfeldt has coming up next.