Although we haven't gotten much snow quite yet, I really like the gloomy autumn days we've been having. I like the bare trees, leaves all around, and the cooler weather. Abe, however, HATES putting on a sweter or coat, and fights with us EVERY TIME. Amanda's almost done doing her volunteer hours so she can apply to The University of Utah and into her Master's Program in Occupational Therapy.
To celebrate the weather, watch this GORGEOUS animation by Russian animator Yuri Norstein.
5 comments:
Ethan said, "the details are amazing" and "it's very existential." I said, "Wow. It really is gorgeous!" I also thought that it seemed very Russian like Tolstoy's descriptions of the countryside in Anna Karenina. I could also see the similar style to your conqueror worm. So, what was it saying at the beginning? That was definitely not Russian. I like that you can post videos...
I love gloomy too! So were those dudes Chinese or some kinda Asian? Ain't it great to put videos on your blog?!
>GORGEOUS
Men are only allowed to say "gorgeous" if they're a) talking about a really, really hot woman, or b) making fun of gay people.
As for what was said at the beginning, it's a poem by the great Japanese poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). The first part just says "Mad Verse," which is a kind of humorous or less-than-serious Japanese poem (usually in haiku form). Here's one translation of it:
In the wintry gust a wanderer: how like Chikusai I have become.
(Chikusai was a character from the pre-modern Japanese comic story "Chikusai Monogatari." He was a quack doctor, which is probably why he was using his "stethoscope" to listen to trees in the film.)
This clip is part of a movie that is about 40 minutes long, with animated shorts for each poem in a linked verse sequence created by Matsuo Basho and others. Most of them are done by Japanese animators. The movie is called "A Winter's Day" (Official movie website: http://www.fuyunohi.com/)
Here is a description of what is happening in this one.
Chikusai is running around listening to trees, and meets Basho. He's awed, but is amused to see that Basho is picking bugs out of a cloak that is as torn as his own. He gives Basho his own hat in exchange for Basho's (which has a gaping hole at the top) and goes away. Suddenly, the wind picks up and blows the torn hat away. Chikusai chases after it and manages to catch it, but then with a shrug lets it go and allows it to fly off wherever the wind will take it. Meanwhile, Basho is moving slowly and laboriously against the wind, with a hand on his new hat to keep it from flying away.
Anyway, that was probably way more than anybody wanted to know, but it's in my field, so I thought I would blabber on for a bit about it...
Yeah for Doghouse, I knew he'd know all that stuff! Where yo blog at, Dog?
Yes, Doghouse, thank you for the info. I knew the basics about the video, but thanks for the detailed info about the history behind the Winter Days.
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