Masters Of Russian Animation #1

Rating:
Summary: Da, Da, Russia!
Review: A great anthology of animated films from a country with a rich (yet often hidden) sense of humour. The films range from the Soviet system bashing of "Man in the Frame" & "There Lived Kozyavin" to morality plays such as "Ball of Wool" and "Glass Harmonica" to the delightful silliness of "Film, Film, Film" & "The Passion of Spies". These films provide a rare glimpse into the REAL world of the Soviet Union of the sixties. A rich compilation certain to please anyone who appreciates wit & wisdom in animation.

Rating:
Summary: Da, Da, Russia!
Review: A great anthology of animated films from a country with a rich (yet often hidden) sense of humour. The films range from the Soviet system bashing of "Man in the Frame" & "There Lived Kozyavin" to morality plays such as "Ball of Wool" and "Glass Harmonica" to the delightful silliness of "Film, Film, Film" & "The Passion of Spies". These films provide a rare glimpse into the REAL world of the Soviet Union of the sixties. A rich compilation certain to please anyone who appreciates wit & wisdom in animation.

Rating:
Summary: A forgotten era
Review: I really enjoyed these old Soviet-era shorts. People who don't understand the millieu will probably scratch their heads and not follow a few stories too well. (Even my fourty-something wife needed a brief explanation of the mindset behind the first one.) Russian humour is also somewhat different than our Western humour.

The animation styles aren't much to get excited about. They are all some fourty years old from a studio that wasn't on the cutting edge of animation technology. However, I found a lot of artistic appeal in the simple techniqes.

While I can't give it a perfect score, I found a lot of charm and enjoyment in these shorts from a bygone culture... with a small disturbing twinge with regard to how much the shorts reflect our own modern society's attitudes and direction.

Rating:
Summary: Rather inconsequential...
Review: This release did nothing at all for me. The storylines are weak and the art is dated and mediocre. These shorts strike me as the Soviet equivalent of those crufty, ephemeral 8mm films you find at flea markets and in the storerooms of elementary school libraries. Masterworks these are not.