Rectangular_businessman This short is one adaptation of the book of Ernest Hemighway, by the Russian animator, Aleksandr Petrov (Which, along with Yuriy Norshteyn is one of the greatest Russian animators of the history) The visual technique of the short is paint on glass, and it looks absolutely beautiful, filled with a incredible level of detail. Every single frame looks like a painting, but not only the animation is beautiful to look at, but also the narration used by Petrov it's simply wonderful and mesmerizing, combining dream-like sequences with a unique, fantastic animation. I highly recommend this short to anyone, especially those who enjoy different styles of animation. No wonder why this won the Academy award to Best short in 1999. This short is a masterpiece.

caprat5544 the most unbelievable animation in decades...i am an amateur animator and perhaps from that perspective the film may seem more incredible, but that doesn't take away from the fact that aleksandr petrov is an absolute master of his craft. i was told by a friend that there are only a handful of "painting" animators in the world...those that animate via paint, and after seeing this i believe that he may very well be the rembrandt of animation. for any of you that are fans of both art forms (painting and animation, and lets face it... fans of anything that is stupefyingly incredible on this scale), this is what you need to watch. in the vein of winsor mckay and the old school masters of cel animation, petrov has re-instituted animation as an ARTform...not some Disney and terrible anime. this is worth spending the 20 minutes to watch...if only to feel deeply inadequate yourself.

Galina "The Old Man and the Sea" (1999) directed by Aleksandr Petrov is a 20 minutes long animation based on Ernest Hemingway's 1952 novella of the same name. Petrov's film was awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2000. More than two years of painting on glass sheets, using brushes but mostly his own fingers, resulted in over 29,000 paintings that enabled Petrov to produce this absolutely awesome, one of the kind feast of colors, images, and emotions that celebrate the famous work of literature and its creator. I have watched it perhaps ten times during the last weekend. I am still overwhelmed by its beauty and depth, and the admiration for what human imagination, creativity, and talent are capable of producing. The extremely rare technique made the film both incredibly realistic and magically dream-like. The director himself gave us the key to understanding his work when he explained that painting with his fingers instead of brushes, "is the closest way from the heart to the cartoon". He put his own heart in every scene of the film, and that's probably why every image is alive, breathing, and shining.

Richard Smith This film is such a milestone that it's a shame that it will probably never be screened again in it's original IMAX format. I was lucky enough to catch it during it's limited run in late 1999 when it was playing at the Sony IMAX in New York City. Anyways, Petrov's animation technique involves oil painting on glass, which most animation geeks are familiar with. When combined with IMAX the result is stunning. There is one shot near the end of the film with shows the Cuban fishing village at night with the stars in the background. The stars shimmer like diamonds set into dark blue velvet - incredible, beyond words, even if you are jaded about "art house" animation. If you ever hear of this film screening at an IMAX venue - don't miss it!