Animatsiya in English

There will be a number of classic and modern Russian animated features and shorts shown with English subtitles at the WFAC this weekend (located in Kitchener, Canada).

"Laughter and Grief by the White Sea" and "The Little Tiger on the Sunflower" will be shown at 2:30pm on Saturday and admission will be free. The other classic films will be shown at the same time on Sunday. The two modern features are on Friday at 7pm, and Saturday at 12:30pm. A ticket is $12 ($8 for students/children).



Film descriptions below.
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Four years after her poetic film about ancient family grief, director Galina Barinova moved into the science fiction genre with this strange, engaging, nearly wordless film.



The animation in Galina Barina's films is awe-inspiring. In this particular film, the methodical, smooth slowness of the movements, coupled with the innovative art direction remind me a bit of "The King and the Mockingbird", and even more so of Richard Williams' "Thief and the Cobbler". Even the majestic first appearance of the dragon brings to mind the first appearance of the War Machine. The beautiful art direction exudes a strange, timeless, enchanting atmosphere, with a bit of grittiness added by using a certain texture behind the colours. It fits perfectly with the scenario of the film, which may be set in the remote future or in the remote past.

The story is a cycle - like an ouroborous (the mythical dragon that eats its own tail). The film starts by introducing us to a worker who works at a strange factory that endlessly makes circles into squares and back again (a bit of foreshadowing, there). At the end of the day, he retires to his home and to his beloved lady. Unexpectedly, the media singles them out and makes them into celebrities, who must provide entertainment for the city's television-addicted inhabitants. The scene of the couple being pursued by giant video cameras on legs is one of the most memorable in the film for me.



But this seemingly charmed life has a terrible price. Because of her elevation to the position of "most beautiful woman in the city", the man's beloved is taken away for sacrifice to a terrible mechanical dragon that menaces the city. The theme of the sacrifice of the damsel to the dragon is ancient and recognizable in many countries. It is also present in a good amount of Russian folklore.

The grief-stricken man is donated resources by the city's citizens to go destroy the evil. And he goes... but in the end, he becomes what he is fighting, and the cycle begins anew. The people in control change, but the beast doesn't, for the people within the beast no longer perceive it as such. And this, too, is an ancient and fundamental idea. For example, to this day, we all know that governments take up the habits that they were fighting against once they gain power.

Also, it would be an injustice to not mention the wonderful synthesized music that so perfectly captures both the lyrical and the action-filled parts of the film.

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Galina Barina has made two masterpieces, from what I have seen. "When the Sand Will Rise..." is one, and this is the second. In her earlier films, she experimented with other techniques. Notably, many of her early films, until the mid-1980s, used cutout animation. But I have to say that her way of animating is far more suited to traditional animation. It took her a long while to find mastery with her voice, maybe because her voice is so distinct. Many of her other films either lack a solidly-presented screenplay (and the overall impression of them is rather average), or are just too strange to make sense of (as is the case with her wordless adaptation of a famous Tatar poem, "Şüräle" - though it gets better on repeat viewings).

Of her later early-1990s films, her 1991 adaptation of Ivan Bilibin's artworks, "Ivan Tsarevich and Grey Wolf", is not a bad film but feels stilted and constrained, almost like a history lesson. It feels stifled by the source material, rather than inspired. Her 1993 film about "Jester Balakirev" (her last work) feels even more awkward, despite the screenplay being written by two respected masters of writing and directing, Leonid Nosyrev and Anatoliy Petrov. Perhaps the problem with those two films is that they feature heavy use of dialogue, while Barina's best films feature almost none.

"Bobik Visits Barbos" (1977, directed by Vladimir Popov):


#5 and #6 from the "Nu, pogodi" series (1972, 1973, directed by Vladislav Kotyonochkin):




Two films from the famous Russian online animation series, Masyanya (2000s):

It's called "Gipsy", it's being made by Simpals studio, and its official English website is here (click on the flag at the upper right to switch to English). A few scenes were recently released:



This going to be a short film, 8 minutes long (or at least, that was the original plan, but some people here are saying that it might become a feature film). It's been turning some heads, however, because it's unusually well-done for a first film... and a lot more tasteful than the 3D films coming out of Russia, to be perfectly honest. They even turned some heads at Pixar (recounted in this blog entry) and got an invitation to visit the studio.

The studio has had trouble finding money since the financial crisis, so they don't know when it will be completed. They do various other odd jobs (such as making emoticon smilies) to earn some money which then goes into the film. Any interested investors can send an email to investor@simpals.md.

So why does this look so much better than upcoming Russian 3D features (you can see a few recent trailers of those over here)? I think this comment says it best:

The difference is that people are making this film with love, in contrast to the Russian analogues.
The problem with the upcoming Russian 3D films is that there is no love in them at all.
There is, instead, a constant desire to save money, to speed through, to rollback + an absolutely amateurish relationship with the work that one is making, both in the technical and in the moral sense.
The result of all this is a dull, unloved child.
His father didn't make an effort, and his mother didn't care.

Gofmaniada is an upcoming stop-motion-animated feature film being directed at Soyuzmultfilm studio by director Stanislav Sokolov, based on the tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann. They've been working on it since 2001. There is more information on its Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gofmaniada


Director Sokolov moving a puppet between shots.

Just recently, the first 20 minutes of the film were uploaded online. They can be streamed over here:

http://mults.spb.ru/mults/?id=2700

The description says: The feature film centers upon the fate of writer E.T.A. Hoffmann as he lives through a deep internal drama - the discrepancy between imagination and reality. Departing from the cruelty and greed of the surrounding world, he is reincarnated in his characters, who manage to triumph over evil. The first part reflects vivid scenes from the childhood and youth of E.T.A. Hoffmann. Overcoming childhood fears about the Sandman, a terrible old woman, and the failure of first love, he finds solace in a fantasy world, where he is patronized by good wizards, and dreams a beautiful image of his beloved.

These 20 minutes were first released in 2006, in an effort to find more funding to complete the film. After fruitlessly trying to interest foreign investors, Soyuzmultfilm won some funding from the Russian government, but that likely collapsed along with the financial crisis in late 2008. Apparently, only 7 minutes have been filmed since 2006.

After watching this material, I am very impressed by the puppets and decorations (the art design was done by the famous sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin). The animation is also wonderful in places. And the voicing is good-to-excellent. I did not, however, quite understand the logic of the story - it is as if some key scenes were left unfilmed (which is quite possibly the case).

(photo originally posted here)

For a number of years now, Norshteyn has enjoyed going swimming in mid-winter. You can see a video of it at 4:30 in part one of a Japanese documentary about him that was uploaded to Youtube a little while ago.

The same documentary features extensive footage from The Overcoat, Norshteyn's on-again, off-again feature film project since 1981.

There are about 12 minutes in total, with most of it in part 3:



More footage is at:
Part 1: 00:00-00:50
Part 9: 5:39-7:21

The entire documentary (including part 7, which is currently missing on Youtube), can be downloaded here (455mb). There are, unfortunately, no English subtitles. (the download link will stay active unless nobody downloads the file for 90 days)

To learn more, click on the "norshteyn" tag below and read some of the translated interviews that have previously appeared in this journal (for example, this one from 2007).

Continuing the theme of "Old Russia"...
"When the Sand Will Rise" is a film based on an ancient Russian ballad which opens a veil onto the world of old Slavic mythology and its heavenly gods. It is a traditional story of the struggle of good and evil, personified in images of the family and its destroyer, the werewolf. The art direction (by Galina Petrova) is based on Slavic folk art.

Directed by Galina Barinova in 1986 at Soyuzmultfilm, the screenplay was written by Anatoliy Petrov, a famous director himself. I first saw this film last week, and was amazed by it. I had never heard of Galina Barinova before, or seen any of her films. The animation is slow-moving, yet deliberate, smooth and hypnotic. Both the foreground and the background are stylistically united. The innovative style sometimes makes it seem not like traditional cel animation but like sand or paint.

The film might seem very weird to some, but it is in fact a faithful immersion into very old Russian cultural themes that are at least a thousand years old. I recommend keeping an open mind. The original ballad was first collected by Ivan Kireyevskiy, who lived in the first half of the 19th century.

Concerning subtitles: If subtitles appear to be missing: Click on the triangle at the bottom right of the video, and make sure that CC is turned on. Although I recommend watching this film with the subtitles turned off at least once, probably the second time - it is the kind of film that is best experienced without distractions from the animation.

A few people have commented saying that they like the translation, but I myself am a bit unsure about it. This is a ballad in archaic Russian that had to be translated into archaic English. Neither of these is really my specialty. I hope I did well enough.




Drink and food did the father give his son;
Yet one day did the father dislike his son;
And disliking him, turned him from his door:
"Go forth, my son, from my door abroad!
Go and learn, my son, of the foreign side,
Of the foreign side unfamiliar!"
How the brave youth's sisters were like him,
Three sisters, three of kin;
How the big sister did lead the horse out,
How the middle sister did bring the saddle out,
How the younger sister did give the whip;
And, on giving the whip, she did cry,
Through her tears, to her brother words she spake:
"Oh, but when, brother, will you return to us?"
"Oh my sisters, my dear kin!
You may go to the sea blue,
You may gather the sand yellow,
You may plant it in my father's field;
And when the sand will rise, and blossom,
That is when, sisters, I will return to you,
Yes, when the sand will rise, and blossom,
It is then, sisters, I will return to you."
How nine years for the brother passed;
On the tenth did his sisters go forth to seek:
Went the big sister to the sea, pike-transformed,
Went the middle sister to the field, falcon-donned,
Went the younger sister to the sky, star-enshaped.
How the big sister of her brother did not hear,
How the middle sister of her brother did hear,
How the younger sister her brother did see:
That felled does lie the brave youth
On the wild steppes of Saratov.
His good horse stands by his side,
Stomps his hoof he against the damp earth:
"Oh, stand up, wake up, brave youth!
All your sisters have gone to look for you!"
On not finding their brother, they all flew
Over steppes, over steppes of Saratov;
And they flew upon the brother dear to them:
"Oh, stand up, wake up, brave youth!"

Some interesting observations about this poem that I found at folk-lore.ru in an essay titled "The Maxim of the Impossible":

A variety of expanded metaphor inherited from mythological folklore is "the formula of the impossible" (described by A.A. Potebnya). The formula of the impossible is a poetic way to express the concept of "this will never be" or "this cannot happen." In the song "Food and Drink Did the Father Give His Son...", the priest casts out the young man, compelling him to visit "the foreign side". He is escorted by his three sisters. The youngest asks: "Oh, but when, brother, will you return to us?" Her brother knows that he will not return, that death awaits him, and thus replies: "Oh my sisters, my dear kin! You may go to the sea blue, You may gather the sand yellow, You may plant it in my father's field; And when the sand will rise, and blossom, That is when, sisters, I will return to you."

The question arises: why is our hero, not yet having left, already reporting his death? We are left with only one answer: the lyrical meaning of the song. For the song, its content is a way to express sorrow for the untimely-deceased young man, to show the grief of his sisters. The formula of the impossible is found in folk songs of various Slavic peoples.

The film goes further than the poem: the last scene, in which the father sees his whole family outlined before a gate, suggests that he has lost all of his children.

Here's another excellent film that is newly-translated into English.

"About Crayfish" was directed by Valentin Olshvang in A-Film Studio in 2003. It is his third film (second if we don't count the short segment for "Optimus Mundus"). Previously, Olshvang had worked as art director for Yuriy Norshteyn in 2000, on the "Goodnight Children" film. He is now once again working at Norshteyn's studio "Artel".

This film is based on old folklore, and was very difficult to translate (a lot of Old Russian). By necessity, much of the translation is a paraphrase, because this old dialect is too different from English to translate very closely. There are still some phrases that are not translated - if anyone can help with those, I would appreciate it. In particular: the mother's prayer at 1:46 and the gossiping women at 7:14. I wish to thank lana_sv for her mostly-accurate transcription of the Russian text. It helped enormously.

This film won 3rd place in the audience ranking at the 2004 Open Russian Festival of Animated Film in Suzdal, and received a jury prize for "creating a striking and original artistic world".

(note: not recommended for children)





Some of my own thoughts (do not read before watching the film):

The main character of this film may not even be the daughter, but the mother. Consider: although she is the main negative character in the film, she has clearly suffered greatly in the past. She is a widow, left to raise her daughter alone. Just when she thinks that she has succeeded in her life mission and arranged her daughter's marriage to a rich man, her daughter runs away without a trace. The villagers all shun her - she brings a sledge to the lake, but none of them will let their children play with her. When, after a long time, her daughter returns, the mother's anger at her own dole in life combines with her love for her daughter and desire to keep her by her side (because she has no one else). Her daughter sleeps, and quietly the mother walks out of the house with a sword. Her hatred, needing an outlet, focuses on the persona of the dragon whom her daughter married, who has actually been a fine husband this whole time:

He who covets to fool and torment my child,
and then to hide himself in the deepest hell,
in boiling resin and scorching heat,
His charms will not help him,
His tricks will not help him,
His artifices will not help him,
Let him sleep his final sleep,
Let his eyes burst.
May a scourge befall you,
May your bones rot in a pit,
Damnation upon your mother.

Only after killing him, and seeing her grandchildren cowering in fear, does she realize the true situation; a situation which for her was unthinkable. Trying to bring back her child, she loses her child and her grandchildren forever.

There are no winners in this tragic story.

I should also mention that the daughter's transformation is portrayed unbelievably well. The quiet sense of growing wrongness and unnaturalness, followed by the sudden bird-call... I get goosebumps watching it every time.

julia2night has made subtitles for the first four episodes of the most famous Soviet-era animation series, "Nu, pogodi!". The films (of which 20 have been made since 1969, the last two just 4-5 years ago by the original director's son) are actually nearly wordless if you don't count the songs. You really only need to know that volk means "wolf", zayats means "hare" (it also means "stowaway", which is used as a pun in episode 7), and nu, pogodi! means "just you wait!".

So armed with that knowledge, you can go and watch all of them right now and not worry about subtitles. :) (except for episode 16, which might be a bit harder to understand)

However, there's still some use to adding subtitles to them, to translate some of the song lyrics and the various Russian-language signs.

Here are the first four episodes that have been subtitled so far. The first was made in 1969, the second in 1970, and the last two in 1971.









This is the first time I had watched the "newly-restored" version of these films (as opposed to my old faded video versions that I have at home). Interestingly, it seems that someone decided to add sound effects that weren't in the original film. For example, the noise during the plane ride at 5:20 in the second episode wasn't there before; just the music. I wonder who made the decision to add that stuff in?

Mr. Icon translated the second "A Kitten Named Woof" episode (as stated previously, #1 and #5 have been translated before this)

A Kitten Named Woof (#2) (1977), directed by Lev Atamanov, Soyuzmultfilm.



And just for fun, he's also translated the last third of the episode into LOLspeak! Surprisingly, it's very fitting. :)