The Street (1976)

Just what I expected

A Masterpiece!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

"The Street" is a 1976 animated short film from Canada and sometimes it feels to me that occasionally the National Film Board of Canada could do whatever they wanted and still got an Oscar nomination. These 10 minutes here also got in at the Academy Awards, but (luckily) lost to another movie. The good thing about this one here is the basic plot idea. Grandma is old and going to die soon and her grandson was promised to get her room when she is deceased. So the boy can't really wait for the day. It is a bit tragic, but it is also realistic I guess. Sadly, what they made of this story in detail is fairly underwhelming and honestly, I couldn't care less. This is especially bad as this movie certainly had the ingredients to deliver from a tragic perspective that touches you. It did not. I also did not like the animation style, but that is just personal preference. Overall, I give it a thumbs-down. Don't watch.

Just watched this Oscar-nominated animated short by Caroline Leaf on the National Film Board of Canada blog as linked from Warren Leonhardt's blog. It's basically an autobiographical look at the childhood of the writer, Mordecai Richler, as he relates the last days of his grandmother's life and his mother's devotion to her. Except for what his sister mentions what possibly happens when someone is hanging, this might be a good educational experience for an under-12 to watch with a parent if that child wanted to know what dying was like. The watercolor images on glass are really compelling here. So on that note, I highly recommend Caroline Leaf's The Street.

This short, nominated for an Academy Award, (I'm surprised it lost, though I've never seen the winner, as far as I know) is a funny, sad, sweet look at life through the eyes of a child growing up in Canada. An excellent adaptation (by the author) of a story by Mordecai Richter and yet another feather in the NFBC's cap. Caroline Leaf is a marvelous director and this is one of her best. Most recommended.

Thanks to a well-told story, believable characters, and a highly unusual look, I can certainly recommend this solid Canadian short. If you're looking for Disney-like animation, you will be sorely disappointed, but the crude paintings fit the film well, and the story moved along at a fast enough pace to keep me interested. This isn't one of the National Film Board's best features, but it was still enjoyable, and it is worth a look if you ever come across it.