Belladonna of Sadness (1973)

Kanashimi no Belladonna also known as "The Tragedy of Belladonna" is an art house animation feature animated film produced in 1973 by Mushi Production. Directed and co-written by Eiichi Yamamoto and inspired by Jules Michelet's non-fiction book Satanism and Witchcraft, it is the third and final film in the Animerama trilogy and the only one to be neither written nor directed by Osamu Tezuka (he left Mushi Production during the film's early stages to concentrate on his comics and his conceptual-stage contribution is uncredited).

It was unusual on several counts: First off, it was an X-rated erotic Fantasia-esque feature length animation produced by by Mushi Production. Mushi Pro is the studio responsible for classic childrens fare like Astroboy and Kimba the White Lion. It’s easy to make the case that Osamu Tezuka, the company’s founder, should be regarded as the Walt Disney of Japan. In fact, it was Tezuka’s wide-eyed way of drawing characters that influenced Anime profoundly. Although Tezuka had already stepped down from the company three years earlier, it’s still not easy to imagine Disney producing soft porn cartoons just a few years after Uncle Walt’s passing…

Based kinda/sorta/somewhat on the Joan D’Arc story, Belladonna of Sadness also incorporates vampires and orgies into her tale (?!?!). Butterflies that take flight in the shape of a vagina and other things. As I have never seen a copy with English subtitles, it is rather difficult for me to say exactly what is going on in Belladonna of Sadness, although I can report that that Kuni Fukai’s stunning visuals (reminiscent of the work of Gustav Klimt and Aubrey Beardsley) are quite incredible eye candy and unlike anything else I’ve seen.

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Fallen Art

In an old forgotten military base far from civilization, a group of deranged military officers nurture their insanity.

For more info: http://www.fallen-art.com/

Vincent (1982)

Vincent is a stop-motion short film written, designed and directed by Tim Burton and Rick Heinrichs. At approximately six minutes in length, there is currently no individual release of the film. It can be found on the Special Edition and Collector's Edition DVDs of The Nightmare Before Christmas as a bonus feature and on the Cinema16 DVD American Short Films.

The film is narrated by actor Vincent Price, a life-long idol and inspiration for Burton. From this relationship, Price would go on to appear in Burton's Edward Scissorhands. Vincent Price later said that the film was "the most gratifying thing that ever happened. It was immortality — better than a star on Hollywood Boulevard."

Vincent is the story of a young boy, Vincent Malloy, who pretends to be like the actor Vincent Price (who narrates the film). He is obsessed with the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and it is his detachment from reality when reading them that leads to his delusions that he is in fact a tortured artist, deprived of the woman he loves, mirroring certain parts of Poe's "The Raven". The film ends with Vincent being tortured by the goings-on of his make-believe world, quoting "The Raven" as he falls to the floor in frailty, believing himself to be dead.

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Robot Carnival: Cloud (1987)

Directed by Mao Lamdo. This short features a robot walking through time, and the evoultion of man. The backdrop is animated with clouds that depicts various events of the universe. Such as the modernization of man, to the self destruction of man. Most the events in the backdrops takes place from Rome to present day society. Eventually the same angel who cries for his imortality, makes him human towards the end.

Stille Nacht I (1988)

The Quay Brothers made their first foray into the world of the pop promo in 1986, when they were amongst a number of animators who worked on Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer' video (d. Stephen R. Johnson). Although they had mixed feelings about their contribution, 'Sledgehammer' was one of the most influential videos of its era, and opened up new commissioning possibilities. In 1988, the US-based MTV cable television music network asked several animators to create a number of very short pieces that could be played as an 'Art Break' between the music videos that formed the bulk of the station's output. More...

Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (1926)

The Adventures of Prince Achmed is a feature-length animated film by the german animator Lotte Reiniger. It is the oldest surviving animated feature film (two earlier ones were made in Argentina by Quirino Cristiani, but they are considered lost, and it featured a silhouette animation technique Reiniger had invented which involved manipulated cutouts made from cardboard and thin sheets of lead under a camera. The technique she used for the camera is similar to Wayang shadow puppets (though hers were animated frame by frame, not manipulated in live action). The original prints featured color tinting. The story is based on the elements taken from the collection 1001 Arabian Nights, specifically The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou featured in Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book. With the assistance of Aladdin, the Witch of the Fiery Mountain, and a magic horse, the title character battles the evil African sorcerer to win the hand of Princess Pari Banou.

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Mona Lisa (1973)

Yellow Submarine (1968)

Yellow Submarine is a animated feature film based on the music of the Beatles. It is also the title for the soundtrack album to the feature film, released as part of the Beatles' music catalogue. The film was directed by animation producer George Dunning, and produced by United Artists (UA) and King Features Syndicate. The Beatles themselves appear only in the closing scene of the film, with the Beatles characters in the film voiced by other actors.

The Beatles are spirited away in the eponymous yellow submarine to save Pepperland from the dreaded Blue Meanies. Along the way, the singing saviors encounter a surreal feast for both the eyes and ears: phantasmagorical creatures, outrageous landscapes, and colors that throb and vibrate to each and every Beatle song on the soundtrack. It's a drug-free, hallucinogenic journey for the armchair tripper, the peak of which is undoubtedly (and not surprisingly) the "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" sequence. An incredible film experience at all levels, "Yellow Submarine" manages to capture exquisitely and in visual form the beauty and madness of the incomparable Beatles. And to think 1968 also included Kubrick's "2001!"

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Kanashimi no Beradona (1973)

Belladonna, literally "Belladonna of Sadness," also known as "The Tragedy of Belladonna" is an art house animation feature film produced by Mushi Production. Directed and co-written by Eiichi Yamamoto and inspired by Jules Michelet's non-fiction book Satanism and Witchcraft, it is the third and final film in the Animerama trilogy and the only one to be neither written nor directed by Osamu Tezuka (he left Mushi Production during the film's early stages to concentrate on his comics and his conceptual-stage contribution is uncredited). Belladonna is also of a more serious tone than the more comedic first two Animerama films. Its visuals consist mostly of still paintings panned across and are strongly influenced by western art, particularly Aubrey Beardsley, Gustav Klimt and classic tarot illustrations. The film was a commercial failure and contributed to Mushi Pro becoming bankrupt by the end of the year.

It follows the story of Jeanne, a peasant woman who is raped which leads to her being accused of witchcraft, and is notable for its graphic and suggestively erotic, violent and psychedelic imagery.

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La Planète sauvage (1973)

Fantastic Planet (French: La Planète sauvage, lit. The Savage Planet) is an animated film directed by René Laloux. The film was an international production between France and Czechoslovakia and has been distributed in the United States by Roger Corman. It won the special jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973. The story is based on the novel Oms en Série, by the French writer Stefan Wul. This film takes place on a faraway planet where giants rule, and tiny humanoids must fight for their lives and their equality. A metaphor of class struggles. La Planète sauvage AKA Fantastic Planet is a surrealist story based on the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. Set in a far distant world human beings or "Oms"have been domesticated by the gigantic Draags. Wild Oms however are a problem and are exterminated by the dozen. One domesticated om Terr is able to escape his masters with a headset that puts information directly into the brain. Armed now with the Draags technology he leads the Oms in an attempt to make life better for them...But will the deomizing destroy them? More...

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Skazka skazok (1979)

Widely regarded as the one of the very best animated film ever made, Skazka skazok is a stunning, semi-autobiographical story of a young boy whose life is damaged by the onset of World War II.

Constructed in an elliptical, non-linear fashion, it contains many of the themes and images that have become synonymous with its creator, the brilliant Russian artist and filmmaker Yuri Norstein. His style is unique and instantly recognisable, using stunning depth effects, sepia toning and dense, often claustrophobic imagery to quite stunning effect. Like so many of his films, Skazka skazok draws heavily on traditional Russian folk stories and art, featuring animals as leading characters and depicting a way of pre-Soviet Russian life that made his work unpopular with the pre-perestroika administration in the Kremlin. Skazka skazok is steeped in nostalgia for a way of life that has long since been eroded by oppression and corruption.

Norstein has claimed that only those who truly understand the psychology of young children can successfully make films aimed at that audience. And it is perhaps his insistence upon listening to the views of his own children before making a film that has leant Skazka skazok its childlike qualities. Simply by changing his style of animation or by subtly altering the tone and mood of the music, Norstein is able to switch effortlessly between the idyllic existence of the story's young hero (whose childhood echoes Norstein's own) and the horrors of the war that ultimately robs him of his innocence.

Yuri Norstein is one of the very few filmmakers who appreciates the full potential of animation as a medium in its own right and not as one which exists simply to mimic the live action cinema. His films (other works include Lisa i zayats / The Fox and the Hare (1973), Tsaplya i zhuravl / The Heron and the Crane (1974) and the intensely moving Yozhik v tumane / Hedgehog in the Fog (1975), which is actually preferable even to this masterpiece) are a stunning blend of fantasy, myth, realism and memories from his childhood that combine to create something that would be impossible to produce in live action.

Skazka skazok perhaps deserves its exalted place as one of - if not perhaps the - most impressive animated film ever made. It's clearly a labour of love from an artist who truly believes in what he's doing, one who has hailed animation as new form of art, one that continues to be misunderstood and badly used. As an example of how animation can be used, effectively, to create mood, atmosphere and emotion, Skazka skazok is one of the very best achievements in its field.

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Storytime (1968)

The Miracle of Flight (1974)

As a side project to Monty Python, one might want to critique the Miracle of Flight in comparison to the even shorter animation sketches in the Python episodes. But it's actually one of Gilliam's most hilarious and successfully tasteless inventions, where a running gag is not taken lightly, and the old adage 'if at first you don't succeed, try try again' is taken literally against all odds. We're given the history of man seeking flight, however not by the channels of 'do-it-yourself': men jump off of cliffs while trying to flap their arms, be them in armor or other outfits. Even with the assistance of birds, it doesn't help, as the birds go in the blink of an eye to dart at the crumbs scattered by an old lady. Then, of course, is the true highlight of the episode, where a king in 1643 gets people on top of the tower, and proceeds to kick all of them off to their deaths in attempting flight. By the end, of course, man has sought flight through airlines (Spam-Air on one of the ticket stubs), yet as a man tries to enter the airplane, he falls off the tower all over again. Nothing truly of intellectual significance happens here, but that's exactly, brilliantly how Gilliam achieves his goal of perfected crudeness. Even the voice-work is put together in cheap style. But it's a rarity I wouldn't dare of missed- and it's now available online!

Wicked City (1987)

Wicked City (Yôjû toshi) is an animated horror neo-noir directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, based on Hideyuki Kikuchi's novel of the same name. In a sense Wicked City is a fascinating title to revisit for those interested in the evolution of Japanese animation. For starters it represents the conjunction and culmination of several strains of 80s fantasy cinema. Phallic tentacles sprout from chests plunging into flesh, bodies twist and split in two, heads fly off and eyeballs explode from their sockets. In an early scene, a raven-haired temptress picked up casually from a bar writhes in post-coital bliss, her limbs elongating and entwining her victim as she assumes the form of a spider before they part to reveal a Venus Flytrap-like vulva arrayed with fangs, the overt manifestation of Freud's most deep-rooted and primal male fear, the vagina dentata. They certainly don't make them like this any more, and certainly not as feature-length cartoons...

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A Detective Story (2003)

A Detective Story is written and directed by Shinichiro Watanabe. It follows the story of a down-on-his-luck private detective Ash, on what he calls the "case to end all cases". Ash receives an anonymous phone call to search for a hacker that goes by the alias "Trinity". Ash traces Trinity learning that other detectives have failed in the same task before him, one had committed suicide, one had gone missing, and one has gone insane. Eventually Ash finds Trinity after deducing that he should communicate using phrases and facts from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The Alphabet (1968)

Against a backdrop of bizarre shapes and textures, a small organic figure gives birth to the letters of the alphabet while a mixture of children's voices and an operatic tune are singing out. The figure's head collapses causing blood to rain on a girl while she lays in her bed, resulting in the girl violently vomiting blood herself.

Renaissance (2006)

Paris, 2042: a dark Rotoscope world of shadows and right angles. Ilona Tasuiev, a brilliant young scientist, is kidnapped, and her employer, Avalon, a major health and beauty corporation, wants her found. Karas, a jaded police captain, is assigned to find her, fast. He seeks help from her sister, Bislane, and they are soon uncovering identify theft, missing files, and hints that something back in 2006 may explain what's going on. Ilona's mentor, Avalon's vice president, a Japanese researcher, an underworld boss, and Bislane's drug connection all figure in the mix. So does an attraction between Karas and Bislane. What's behind the kidnapping? Who's the victim?
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