Customer Reviews

The Man Who Planted Trees DVD Box Set - Nine Animated Classics by Frederic Back

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Whether you are a longtime fan of the work of Canada's Frederic Back, or you are just discovering the masters of animation, you'll both be equally and incredibly pleased with this four-disc anthology. Nine films are included: Abracadabra, Inon or the Conquest of Fire, The Creation of Birds, Illusion?, Taratata!, All Nothing, Crac!, The Mighty River and The Man Who Planted Trees -- as well as several insightful interviews and a documentary retrospective of the life and work of Frederic Back. All are presented beautifully, with each film looking and sounding fresh and well-cared for.

But beyond the presentation, these films (particularly The Man Who Planted Trees, Illusion? and The Mighty River) get to the heart of environmentalism and stewardship. They are not shrill or glib, not reactive or stalely didactic -- these films are awash with animism and life, each using this unique medium to exhalt the beauty of creation, and to exemplify the folly of excess. Back's impressionistic style flows like a river itself, rolling and moving and churning, urging us to face the simple truths of our abuses, and to consider the possibility of a more harmonious course.

I'll stop there, because I'm afraid I'm making Back's work sound contrived. Walt Disney once said that a true animated film could not be put into words, and he was right. I can only urge you to see these truly remarkable films, and to share them with the youngest generations.

I have heard of Frédéric Back's The Man Who Planted Trees before by virtue of it being an Oscar winner for Best Animated Short in 1988, but have never seen it. When I found out that there was this DVD set collecting all his work, I was quite enthusiastic about it. It was expensive, but I ordered it anyway. And then I was left thinking or the next three weeks if my money was dumped into the drain for something I didn't know what to expect.

Since receiving my copy of The Man Who Planted Trees DVD, I have watched all the animated shorts, and bonus features. I am so amazed by his work -- both as an animator as well as an environmental activist.

When I was watching the films, I was thinking that this guy is carzy -- To think that Back hand-drew and used coloured pencils to complete every individual frame (background and foreground) of the film is just incredible. His films play with a continuous flow of images that is very much like a stream of consciousness projecting life at it's fullest -- alert, active and vibrant. And to add to that liveliness is the suitably used Impressionistic style with the rich beauty, movement and colour.

To some extent, as I watched the "The Man Who Planted Trees" and "Crac!" I was reminded of Winsor McCay's work such as "Gertie the Dinosaur" (1913). Here is a man so dedicated to his art. When McCay drew 10,000 ink-drawings to make the Gertie move, Back spent five years doing some 200,000 drawings to make his 33-minute The Man Who Planted Trees film.

That's what I call dedication and passion to his work and art. And you don't come across people like that very often.

So is the DVD set worth buying? I believe it was money well spent.

This is a beautifully animated short film for all ages, based on the short story by Jean Giono. It is a narrated tale about a quiet shepherd who takes it on himself to plant a vast forest in a deserted part of the French Alps. Throughout the course of his life he plants just a few seeds at a time until, over many decades, he transforms what was a barren wasteland into a veritable garden of eden. His progress is marked by a lost hiker (travelling through Provence trying to forget his war experiences) who meets the shepherd during the post WW1 years. The hiker returns to see him periodically for many years and is astounded by the transformations that take place in the years he is off living his own life - 'transformations' that the world at large sees as a startling natural phenomena, but that the narrator knows is due to the herculean efforts of one, quiet man.

I saw the animated film once many years ago, and I was so taken by the characters and the story itself that I searched for years to find the book or a recording of it in some form. Thankfully it is now available on DVD for a new generation to admire.
I would recommend this inspiring animation to anyone of any age. It would make a great gift to someone you really care about, because the recipient will never forget who it was that turned them on to "The Man Who Planted Trees."

Others have listed the contents, so I won't bother. I bought this on the strength of two shorts-Crac! and The Man Who Planted Trees, both of which I have on VHS, but wanted on DVD. I figured anything else was a bonus. All nine of the animated shorts are good to excellent, but I now have two more reasons to be delighted to have bought this set: All Nothing and The Mighty River. The Mighty River is almost as incredible as The Man Who Planted Trees. It deserves to be more widely known than it is.Everything on the set is worth checking out, but most especially watch the various Photo Galleries. The detail is all the more impressive in stills. A most highly recommended set.

I show this film to my forestry students each year, and it always captivates them. The "silviculture" aspect is pretty authentic, and the work ethic shown is wonderful.

A few years back, a student told me that his great-uncle had been on a post-WW2 military reconaissance flight over the Haute Savoie in France, and that the (local) pilot had pointed down to the hills, and said "That's the forest that came from nowhere."

Wonderful film, and terrific narration from Christopher Plummer. Watch it ten times straight off!

Frédéric Back's 30 minutes long Oscar winning animated film "The Man Who Planted Trees" is astounding work of art with its beautiful story and the images that equal it. The story written by the French writer Jean Giono that tells about Elzeard Bouffier, a quiet shepherd, and later bee keeper who never talked much but over 35 years of hard work singlehandedly cultivated a magnificent forest in a desolate area of Provence, France and made it a peaceful and happy home for over 10, 000 people, is highly moving, inspirational, and life-affirming. It makes a viewer proud of what a man can achieve if he is determined to create, not to destroy. Every frame looks and feels not like a flat drawing but like a beloved painting of a celebrated impressionist painter (Monet, Sisley, Morisot, and Pissarro, the "purest" impressionists come first to mind). To achieve this effect, Back worked on unpolished acetates using crayons and modulating the colors. During the film, the colors change dramatically from barren and lifeless desert like palette in the beginning to the tender glowing delicate colors of blossoming eternal Spring in the final scenes. I was absolutely mesmerized by Back's visual style and his ability to beautifully translate such a literally story to the screen and not to lose any of its appeal but on the contrary to enrich it with incredible taste and unique exquisite beauty and tenderness of his images. For the first time, I came across the work of animation that reminded me so much of my all time favorite animated film "Tale of Tales" (1978) by Yuri Norstein, artistically and spiritually. It was not surprising for me to find out that Norstein and Back have met, respect and admire each other work and that Norstein studied Back's techniques and took with him to Moscow Back's acetates and coloring pencils that he was going to use while working on his ambitious project, full feature animation "Overcoat".

There is one question that pops up from time to time on the different film forums, "Is there any movie that all viewers would love and cherish"? I am always skeptical and up until tonight used to believe that the universally loved movie simply does not exist. I am happy to admit that I was wrong. I don't think that anyone who saw this little marvel may not be affected by its clear message, its kindness, beauty, and artistry.

Highly recommended as deservingly one of the very best animated movies ever made.

5+/5

Frederic Back is one of the wonders that happened to the Animation Film making.
I saw his film `Crac' in 1988 for the first time and after that I fell in love with this `man who planted trees' of wisdom.
He falls under the category of animators like Ishu Patel (Paradise), Bill Plimpton (Your face), Jacques Drouin (Mindscape), Gayle Thomas (A Sufi Tale), Jerzy kucia (Reflections) & Yuri Norstein (tale of tales).

This Deluxe Edition has got all his nine films. One could see how Frederic Back evolved as an animation film-maker through the decades of his continuous passion and hard work.

In fact I haven't read the book "The man who planted trees" by Jean Giono. But Frederic Back's film is very inspiring and thought provoking. While I was watching the film, I felt that the protagonist `shepherd' was none other than Frederic Back himself. He says in one of his interviews that "People who don't experience misery, who have no contact with what really is the bottom of life cannot paint, cannot write with the same depth as people who have experienced". One could see his roots and childhood experiences in his own work. That's how his work has more personal touch. In all his films specially, Crac, The Mighty River and The Man Who Planted Trees we can see Frederic Back's deep concern and love for nature. As far as beauty is concerned, I don't think there is anybody in the animation world who could visualize more beautifully than Frederic Back. His aesthetics are amazing. The technique he chooses for most of his films is also very time consuming and painstaking. He renders (hatching style) each and every frame. Most of his later films have certain lyrical beauty in the flow of animation. The colors and treatment are similar to Marc Chagall, Odilon Redon and some of impressionists.

Like the Shepherd in the The Man Who Planted Trees, even Frederic Back must have made this film without expecting any reward just for the sake of sheer joy and also to help make people realize the necessity to protect the nature. But in the end of everything, rewards (Oscar awards) followed him.

I found this film to be not only beautiful, but thought provoking as well. The imagery is amazing and the story unforgettable. It will change the way you look at life, nature, and our role as caretakers of the earth we live in. This film should touch a deep level of a person, so be sure you have the right attitude when watching it to fully experience the magic this film can bring. Personally, I only show it or recommend it to people who, I think, will truly appreciate it and take it to heart.

I had seen "The Man Who Planted Trees" many years ago on the the PBS children's anthology program "Long Ago and Far Away" and had often thought of it since, so I was very pleased when this set became available. I considered buying the individual disc with just "The Man Who Planted Trees" but I am so glad I went ahead and bought the set because the other films are just as beautiful and moving. I especially like "Crac!"

If you love hand-drawn animation, if you appreciate a good story, or if you are any kind of a conservationist I think you will enjoy this set immensely.

(The packaging *is* a little annoying, but if you're really worried about breaking the discs you could just put them in a folder or something.)

As a high school principal, I used The Man Who Planted Trees as part of teacher staff development. The story's theme of how one person can make a difference serves as a reminder to all teachers that they have the power of miracles in their hands. They can influence the future more than any other profession, and because of that influence they have the power to change the world. The Man Who Planted Trees should be required viewing and reading in every school and every profession. This is a beautiful story that needs to be shared over and over again.