Image Not Available
1999-01-01
N/A
6 min
A Charles Bukowski poem is put to animation. Four kids who are friends are drawn to a strange house that their parents tell them to avoid. One day they see a man of about 30 step outside, cigar and whiskey bottle in hand. He becomes a symbol for them of all that is strong, natural, and beautiful. What happens later to this man with the beautiful eyes introduces the boys to the gray and uptight world of adulthood that awaits them.
Imagine a world where there was “Tarzan” but no “Jane”, or where big fat goldfish came to the surface to take the bread from your hands. Well that’s where a group of lads live, free to roam their typical community save for any visits to one lone property. It’s not like an old haunted house, it’s just an ordinary building where their parents tell them danger lurks. Of course, being boys, they disregard these instructions on a fairly daily basis, but only once do they encounter a resident - an unkempt, foul-mouthed, whisky-swiller - but he settles for a pleasant good morning and returns indoors. The boys deduce that their parents have banned them from this place because it is exciting whilst their lives are mundane and repetitive. When the house mysteriously burns down, they are convinced that this is a blatant attempt to snuff out any originality suggested by the brightly coloured fish in the now dried out pond, or by it’s enigmatic occupant. I did like the sketch-style of the animation, frequently over-laid or presented with reveals to support the narration of Charles Bukowski’s original piece of provocative prose. It switches between colour and monochrome occasionally, too, which can be quite effective as these lads do what we all did at that age and question the wisdom of our forebears whilst attempting to assert our own individuality. Well worth five minutes.
