Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) This is a Russian animated short film that runs for slightly under half an hour and was made by Aleksandr Petrov almost 10 years ago, so far his last work of a director. Petrov has been pretty successful with the Academy. He made 6 animated films. 4 of them got an Academy Award nomination and one of these got the win, all in the animated short film category. However, this one here did not win and I am not really mad about it. The animation style I am not the biggest fan of, although it's okay and not the biggest weakness of the film. The biggest weakness may be that it just throws crucial story points out there and does not properly elaborate on these, such as the artificial eye or the man that the young woman is supposed to marry. Or even the general idea of a teenage boy with 2 love interests, which is a good one, but I felt they did not really make the most of this premise. I am not sure if that is Petrov's fault or the fault of Ivan Shmelyov. The latter, by the way is credited as being responsible for the screenplay, which is not true. He wrote the piece that this is based on, but was long dead when Petrov made this one here. Maybe it helps to understand this short film if you have read Shmelyov's work, but this should not be a requirement. All in all, not recommended.

Armand impressionist art. delicate theme. Alexandr Petrov science to explore each nuance in admirable manner. and his unique animation. it is more than a movie. maybe an experience. a beautiful, useful, almost magic one. because more than a film about love, dreams, expectations and grow -up, it is the film about a special age. and the delicacy to explore it does it real great show. it is a film about subtle nuances of an experience and the chance to discover an live the magic of life. a superb movie for the grace of image, for the science to reflect the magic of a delicate episode of life. the story of the young Anton is universal. the talent of director is to transform it in personal experience for each spectator in a splendid manner.

MartinHafer Aleksandr Petrov has been nominated for three Oscars for Best Animated Short Film and also won the Award for THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. While only winning 1 of the 4 times he was up for the award, he easily could have won every time, as his artwork is so unique and transcendent--making the films less as cartoons and more like gorgeous works of art. Sadly, there's almost no information about this important artist on IMDb--and this probably reflects the gap between the East and West. Like all of his films, it is long (for a short) and tells a very complex story in vivid colors and textures. If you've never seen one of Petrov's films before, you'll find yourself transfixed. As for me, it's the fourth one I've seen and so some of the newness has worn off--but it's still amazing and I'll be pulling for him at the award ceremony next month.UPDATE---This is the day before the Oscars are announced for 2008 and I just got back from a special screening by our local film society of all five films nominated in the category of Best Animated Short Film. "Moya lyubov" was even prettier on the big screen and of the five nominees it was definitely the most artistic, though I enjoyed watching "Même les pigeons vont au paradis" more. Petrov's film is great and is a pretty good bet for the Oscar. However, it's biggest weaknesses are the plot (which is very unconventional) and the fact that Petrov is a perennial nominee. I think it's definitely between these two films and if I were voting, I'd give the nod to "Même les pigeons vont au paradis" though either one is quite deserving. My advice is regardless of the outcome, see them both.ONE FINAL UPDATE--2/24/08--The Oscar was just announced and the winner in this category was PETER & THE WOLF. It just goes to show what I know!!

tavm Just watched this Russian film that's nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short of 2007. Moya lyubov (My Love) seems to be an oil painting come to life that tells the story of a young man's infatuation with two women: one that's dark-haired who seems so far away from him to have any contact with and one who's blond in pigtails who is very close in proximity and seems to have a very good interest in him. Since I saw this on YouTube as linked from Cartoon Brew in the native country's language with no subtitles, I couldn't completely understand what was going on but many of the painting-like movements presented such a visual dream-like state to the proceedings that I was mesmerized just the same. Very worthy of the Oscar nomination so I wouldn't mind if it won but I saw two others of the nominated that were interesting in their own way so here's to them all.