Magical and mysterious
I'm really not sure how to describe this movie, so I'll start with the bare facts. Cegavske appears to have started from some art-school sketchbooks, and assembled a gorgeous stop-animation, supposedly taking 13 years to complete. She did all the design, scripting and animation, so this was clearly a labor of love. She created remarkable characters and sets, beautifully crafted. The composer she engaged for the score did an outstanding job, especially in the unearthly tones of the mouses' dance.
All of which says nothing about the characters and plot of the movie, which I still can't quite put words to. It carried the sense of a fully-elaborated dream world, but of someone else's dreams. The different beings seemed to act out rituals of deep importance, all of which eluded me. Rich, detailed imagery abounds, almost like the imagery of a Tarot deck - but with all of the arcane meanings unspoken. The viewer rides along in this wordless world, sensing the characters' urgency...
Amazing to see & savor!
This would be an astonishing film under any circumstances, given its detail & dreamlike, sometimes nightmarish quality. Knowing that it was made by one person over 13 years only increases my admiration. Truly a labor of love! Rich colors, fascinating characters that capture both the innocence & exaggerated fears of a child's world, memorable images that seem almost archetypal -- just stunning. It has the look & flavor of a very old tale, repeated over countless generations. If you're looking for something different, something very far from the mass market animation that seems to exist solely to sell cheap merchandise, then you won't go wrong here. Most highly recommended!
deep, sweet, smart and beautiful
At first the idea of "dialogue free" scared me off, as did stop action animation, since Davy and Goliath and Gumby always freaked me out, but I read a review in Daily Variety that compared it to David Lynch and Beatrix Potter, so I had to check it out. WOW! Deep saturated colors, amazing music and most importantly deeply gorgeous storyline with phenomenal characters that really come alive. The layers of symbolism and the tragic tale of love and loss make this a MUST HAVE for film fans into Dali, Browning, Lynch, etc. Awesome!
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