Previous Post Next Post

Danny’s Picks – La Maison en Petits Cubes

September 9, 2011 3 comments

Hey all! Today I’ve got a beautiful short film to share – “La Maison en Petits Cubes (The House of Small Cubes)” or “つみきのいえ (Tsumiki no Ie)” by Kunio Kato (加藤久仁生).

.

La Maison en Petits Cubes

I first watched La Maison en Petits Cubes at the Ottawa International Animation Festival back in September of 2008 and immediately it became one of my favorite films of the festival. An interesting note is that water is often used as a symbol of the mind, so having the character literally swim deeper into his memories as he swims down his house is very well done. As noted by wiki:

It won several prizes, the most important of which being the Grand prize for short films (the Annecy Cristal) at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2008 and the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2009. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2008.

« Previous Post in Category

Danny’s Picks – The Animation Show of Shows

Next Post in Category »

Danny’s Picks – Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Related posts:

Danny’s Picks – Day of Nose 鼻の日 Hello everyone, today I’ve got a short film for you...
Danny’s Picks – Tale of Tales Hello everyone to another Danny’s Picks. Things have been quite...
Danny’s Picks – Skhizein Hello everyone! This week’s Danny’s Picks will be a short...
Danny’s Picks – La Main des Maitres Hey everyone! I’ve got a very interesting movie to share...
Danny’s Picks – Keith Reynolds Can’t Make It Tonight Hello everyone! I’ve got a short film to share today...

Danny's Picks Animation, Independent Animation, Kunio Kato, La Maison en Petits Cubes, Ottawa International Animation Festival, The House of Small Cubes, Tsumiki no Ie, つみきのいえ, 加藤久仁生

Comments

Leave a comment Trackback

Written by Chris on September 17, 2011. Reply

Danny, you know I hadn’t seen this before, but recall seeing stills from it. Looking at it now it totally reminds me of an animation I saw this year at the Rhode Island International Film Festival by Po Chou Chi. Which I’m wondering if it was inspired by ‘La Maison en Petits Cubes’ as if you’ll see it I think you’ll agree the parallels are unmistakable. Here it is on youtube…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQzldrC870s

Getting back to ‘La Maison’, the symbolism of water is extremely strong and I couldn’t help but wonder if their is a bit of a global warming message hinted in the work. As the water level keeps rising and wiping out the land. The art style is wonderful, looks so organic like some of the sketches I’ve seen for ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ comes to mind.
- Written by Danny Kang on September 29, 2011. Reply
  
  Nice film, the “circle of life” theme is always a powerful message to watch! The symbols worked nicely in this film as well. with the water representing the distance between people (the family was separated from their neighbors by water, separated from each other by water), the ship representing life (the ships got more advanced symbolizing time passing by and the passing of time tends to make us more distant from each other) and the lighthouse, a symbol of love and life, that which guides us back to each other, closing the distance of water between us.
  
  In La Maison, I think the global warming message is certainly there, as it’s something that’s on the forefront of all our collective minds. Good films are often like onions, with many layers to them, so I consider the global warming to something like the outside of the onion. The core of the story however, I think is “deeper,” and more universal in it’s symbols. In that way, it’s message is relevant no matter what time period you watch it in.
Written by Danny Kang on September 9, 2011. Reply

Danny's Picks – La Maison en Petits Cubes, a beautiful short animation

Comment Pages:

Leave a Comment

Previous Post Next Post

Main Menu

Blog Menu

Blog Categories

When I paint, the sea roars. The others splash about in the bath. — Salvador Dali

WP-Backgrounds by InoPlugs Web Design and Juwelier Schönmann