Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
There's no denying that Aleksandr Petrov has his very own style of animation. And maybe this uniqueness was it what led him to Glory around the turn of the 21st century. His 20-minute long interpretation of the Hemingway story "The Old Man and the Sea" is a thing of beauty and you could probably take any random shot from the film, print an enlarged version of it and hang it into your living room. The film looks definitely much older than 1999 and meets the truest definition of motion picture as it's clearly an art in progress, like a work that consists of many beautiful paintings.I won't go into much detail about the story. It's an interesting one with many clever symbolisms, but it doesn't really hold a candle to the visual side. A must-see for animation lovers and a good time for everybody else as well. I wonder if Petrov will ever do a full feature film. Probably not looking too good as he only made one other film after "The Old Man and the Sea" and this was already roughly six years ago as well. Also, it's been almost 15 years since this was made and I believe this is the most recent version of the tale put on screen, so we may be in for a new one soon as well, hopefully as good as this one.
Rectangular_businessman
This short is one adaptation of the book of Ernest Hemighway, by the Russian animator, Aleksandr Petrov (Which, along with Yuriy Norshteyn is one of the greatest Russian animators of the history) The visual technique of the short is paint on glass, and it looks absolutely beautiful, filled with a incredible level of detail. Every single frame looks like a painting, but not only the animation is beautiful to look at, but also the narration used by Petrov it's simply wonderful and mesmerizing, combining dream-like sequences with a unique, fantastic animation. I highly recommend this short to anyone, especially those who enjoy different styles of animation. No wonder why this won the Academy award to Best short in 1999. This short is a masterpiece.
Galina
"The Old Man and the Sea" (1999) directed by Aleksandr Petrov is a 20 minutes long animation based on Ernest Hemingway's 1952 novella of the same name. Petrov's film was awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2000. More than two years of painting on glass sheets, using brushes but mostly his own fingers, resulted in over 29,000 paintings that enabled Petrov to produce this absolutely awesome, one of the kind feast of colors, images, and emotions that celebrate the famous work of literature and its creator. I have watched it perhaps ten times during the last weekend. I am still overwhelmed by its beauty and depth, and the admiration for what human imagination, creativity, and talent are capable of producing. The extremely rare technique made the film both incredibly realistic and magically dream-like. The director himself gave us the key to understanding his work when he explained that painting with his fingers instead of brushes, "is the closest way from the heart to the cartoon". He put his own heart in every scene of the film, and that's probably why every image is alive, breathing, and shining.
matatigre36
I first saw this movie in the Spring of 2001, and it is truly one of the best films I have ever seen. Mr. Petrov not only does a magnificent job of depicting the story of the Old Man and the Sea, but also gives tribute the life of Ernest Hemmingway in a way that is true to the man. I still remember many affecting lines from Hemmingway's journal that are included in the movie (though not verbatim, otherwise I might leave some here). I left the theater with a changed perspective on life and its importance.Needless to say, I would love to be able to see this movie again. However, because it was in IMAX format in theaters, it has never been released on DVD or VHS, at least to my knowledge it hasn't. I hope someday the means will be provided to release the movie in a format for private viewers to purchase. That day may never arrive though. Thus, if you ever have the chance to see this movie in an IMAX theater, don't let it pass you by!
AD
