Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor and Other Fantastic Films

Well. This is an amazing collection of animated shorts by Koji Yamamura. Unfortunately my ordered copy was lost in the mail. I found another copy elsewhere so my review is only on the contents of this DVD. it is broken up into early work, mid career, and most recent. The feature short film "A Country Doctor" is absolutely bone shaking and not like any animation I have ever seen. Even a bit scary...

Brilliant films from one of my favorite independent animators. A diverse collection of work, I originally purchased this DVD just so I could watch "A Country Doctor" in high quality, and had only seen the crocodile short and "Mt. Head" before as well. The rest of his work that I hadn't seen yet, however, turned out to be just as charming and pleasing to look at. Without a doubt it's true what everyone's been saying though, "A Country Doctor" is his best and possibly my favorite animated short of all time.

My first viewing of Yamamura's films. I like them.

Video and sound quality is excellent.

GREAT!

Thanks to Zeitgeist, this is a glorious collection from Japanese animator Koji Yamamura's career. If you've enjoyed Japanese animated features over the years---or perhaps popular cartoon series like "Astro Boy"--you may have missed Yamamura. Some of his recent works, like the Kafka story that titles this DVD collection, will provoke long discussions with friends. Some of his earlier short films are very creative little fantasies anyone--of any age--will celebrate. One such example is "Imagination," from the 1990s, which looks like an Eric Carle pre-school picturebook springing to life on the TV screen. (Don't know Eric Carle? One of his favorites in book form is  The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book )Yamamura developed his message, as well as his art, as he crossed into the new millennium. In recent years, he has been crafting short animated films that can best be described as calls to: Wake up!!! One such film, "Mt. Head," is the fanciful fable of a man so stingy that he eats not only fresh cherries, but the pits as well. He doesn't want those pits to be wasted! Because he is so obsessive about eating these cherries--eventually a cherry tree begins to grow from the top of his bald head! Obviously, that's where this crazy story of the stingy man explodes into what Americans would call a Tall Tale like Paul Bunyan. The rest of the stingy man's neighbors love the beautiful cherry tree atop his head--and finally he's the center of a happy community. But that just convinces the old grouch to get a "hair cut" and wipe out that miraculous tree. I won't spoil the end of the movie, but it's the kind of short film you can enjoy with any age group."Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor" is aimed at adults, although there's nothing specific in this animation that would spark even a PG-13 rating in the U.S. The old doctor is supposed to be a leader in his community--he's supposed to do many things, in fact! He's supposed to act quickly. He's supposed to act compassionately. He's supposed to heal people. Instead, he's lets himself sink into a funk of winter weather, his own lethargy--and, I don't want to spoil the film by revealing any more. But, when this old doctor allows himself to stand out in the winter's cold too long, he ends up opening a Pandora's Box.If you're a parent, a teacher, a small-group leader or you simply love Japanese animation, this is a collection of more than a dozen animated films that will help you celebrate the arts--and share some global good will, along the way.

This collection works backward in time through Yamamura's career - with "A Country Doctor" being the longest, most ambitious, and most successful piece in the collection. His line-work and drawing might bring Plympton to mind, but this Japanese take on Czech surrealism stands as a mind-boggling achievement.Working backward, we see other animations in similar visual style, but less developed. Again, some bring Plympton to mind, but I can't call any of these works imitative or derivative. We also see his earlier experiments with color: some florid, some strictly B&W, but none that really predict the subtlety and subdued palette that gives "A Country Doctor" its mood. And, even earlier, we see some charming claymation. Some looks like mixed media - clay animation against a green screen - offering visual interest and contrast that no one medium can convey.I have to admit, I find the earlier works to be lesser works. This collection starts with the piece that really matters. What comes after isn't really a disappointment, but doesn't clear the bar that "A Country Doctor" set so very high.-- wiredweird

spooky