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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.8 - NOVEMBER 2000
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The Daily Report: I Castelli Animati, Genzano Di Roma Day 3: 6th of October 2000 Paul Driessen's retrospective continues with a very shy animator from Holland being introduced into the circus atmosphere of the Cinema Modernissimo by festival director Luca Raffaelli. Paul's Three Misses was nominated this year for an Academy Award. Paul has never before been nominated for the Oscar despite having the strongest body of work of any living animator, certainly the strongest body of work of any independent animator. Later in this day, The End of the World in Four Seasons is screened. This picture has Paul's trademark split screen or separate screens within the screen approach. To Vivaldi's Four Seasons music, a series of interlaced dramas unfold with action from one screen influencing action in another screen. One viewing of Seasons is not enough. I Castelli Animati's programs all go off in one theatre, the Cinema Modernissimo. The screenings are continuous from 10:00 am until 11:30 pm each day. Commercials, children's films, retrospectives, interviews with international guests and competition screenings just keep on coming interrupted only by the familiar musical theme and the fine M.C. hosting of festival director Luca Raffaelli. There are some projection glitches to be sure, some catcalls from audience members, crying children, cell phone noises and at times the theatre lights may go on during a film. There is a snack bar right outside the theatre's curtained entrance, and two or three bars and pizzerias nearby. If you do not like what is on screen just go away for an espresso and when you return there will be a whole different program underway. Understanding Italian will enhance anyone's visit to I Castelli Animati, but if you speak only English you will still have a good time. Some highlights in today's Concorso Internazionale include: Village of Idiots (1999) directed by Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Newlove. This picture is beautifully made using Federenko's familiar illustrative styling (his work appears in New Yorker Magazine, including covers). It is a very funny story about Eastern European peasants. Cut-out and drawn animation are used, as well as out-of-focus effects and a very ethnically rich voice narration. Gerry Fournier's I'm Busy (1999) also broke up the audience. Igor Kovalyov (currently working at Klasky Csupo in Hollywood) has Flying Nansen in a program directly following. Flying Nansen is a well-animated explorer of the Arctic. Igor's film is masterful and may be based on a true story. The snow-blown epic slips into absurdity and seems not to get out before it wraps up. Nansen is eleven minutes of animation pleasure. Eventi Italiani: Cuccioli by Sergio Manfio (2000). Sergio is a well-known Italian animator and artist. After this competition program an episode of The Simpsons, "Treehouse of Horror X," edizione Italiana; meaning, the Simpsons speak Italian on the soundtrack. A later competition/Concorso Internazionale features Andreas Hykade's Ring of Fire, made in Germany (2000). This is a stupendous movie, in wide screen, black and white, full of cowboy bad behaviour, sexual imagery, big music, eye popping combinations of drawn and computer animation, more sexual imagery and an overall effect of grand scale animation production. For the Birds, by Ralph Eggleston of Pixar Studios (2000), was an audience favorite. Much laughing after this one. Le Chapeau by Michéle Cournoyer (1999), made in Canada, is another strong black and white production. Sexual abuse is the theme, or is it? Beautifully made using painted line, The Hat (in English), depicts an exotic dancer with references to her childhood and the men in her current audience and leaves much for any viewer of this film to contemplate prior to forming an opinion. Julian Nott, composer of music for the Nick Park Wallace and Gromit short films, was given another retrospective program today, by now 10:55 pm, with the screening of two Mark Baker directed films: The Village and Jolly Roger. Julian's music is just right for these films. Both pictures are great examples of Baker's humour range and both gentlemen prove themselves to be wonderful and sympathetic collaborators. The Village is lush and quietly funny with slow dawning messages about crime and human errors. The music never gets in the way and is simple and only helps the story told without dialogue. Jolly Roger is a much less complicated story, very funny, broad and noisy with fighting, action scenes and bombastic music by Julian Nott. A great pair of films. The evening ended with more Italian coming out of the mouths of the Simpsons. End
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