I watched a short animated film the other day that showed up on Google Video’s front page and thought it was worth sharing. It’s by a Japanese guy named Kunio Kato and has won the grand prize at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival as well as an Academy Award for Best Short Animated Film.

I don’t have much to say about it since it sort of speaks for itself, even though there’s no dialogue. I also don’t want to ruin the effect of watching it. To me, it does an impressive job at summing up where one is going/has to go as well as where one has been. Somehow, having something so visual that represents this idea makes it much more affecting than just saying it.

The music, by Kenji Kondo, is worth commenting on. It sounds, to me, highly influenced by Erik Satie, especially his Gymnopedies. In fact, the French title may be a nod to French art in general. After all, the animation could be considered impressionistic. Satie was a composer writing around the beginning of the 20th century. He wrote mostly solo piano pieces which are notable for their, for the time, unusual chord progressions and harmonies. They were progressive works at the time that, now, sound like a demonstration of how much can be expressed with a few simple sounds. If you enjoy the music in this film, I would definitely recommend checking out Satie’s music.

UPDATE: The video seems to be getting pulled from video hosting sites very quickly. You can problem still find it but I have no way to post it here without getting the dreaded “This content has been removed” message. So, if you’re interested, search Google Video for La Maison en Petits Cubes.