Customer Reviews

The Old Man and the Sea (Animated IMAX)

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"The Old Man and the Sea" (1999) directed by Aleksandr Petrov is a 20 minutes long animation based on Ernest Hemingway's 1952 novella of the same name. Petrov's film was awarded Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2000. More than two years of painting on glass sheets, using brushes but mostly his own fingers, resulted in over 29,000 paintings that enabled Petrov to produce this absolutely awesome, one of the kind feast of colors, images, and emotions that celebrate the famous work of literature and its creator. I have watched it perhaps ten times during the last weekend. I am still overwhelmed by its beauty and depth, and the admiration for what human imagination, creativity, and talent are capable of producing. The extremely rare technique made the film both incredibly realistic and magically dream-like. The director himself gave us the key to understanding his work when he explained that painting with his fingers instead of brushes, "is the closest way from the heart to the cartoon". He put his own heart in every scene of the film, and that's probably why every image is alive, breathing, and shining.

More than two years painting on glass have enabled Petrov to produce this absolutely awesome 20-minute animated film. I have watched it four times in two days and still cannot help but watch it again. Each scene is vibrant with life and the film as a whole has a dimension of profound imagination, as Hemingway's masterpiece has. The two included documentaries (Hemingway bio+making of the film) are both great, too. This is a must have. Superb!

Whether you saw this in an IMAX theatre or not will really not matter basically. Would this be a film to watch in an IMAX theatre? Most certainly. However if you love beautiful animation in the tradition of the best kind of Disney movie, only hand painted on glass this is a must have.

This is an excellent opportunity to introduce Hemingway to kids and also a way for adults to understand the process and hard work that goes into a film of this kind. Alexander Petrov's use of colors and textures are so stunning this requires several screenings to appreciate and take them all in.

I would highly recommend that you watch the film first. Sometimes the "making of" feature can take away from, although I'm not positive that this would happen on this breathtaking little film.

Are you a parent? Watch this with your kid! Are you teacher? Watch this with your class! Are you an animation buff? Do yourself a favor and add this to your collection. You won't regret it.

the movie itself is pretty short... 20 minutes... i was kinda mad about that at first because its so beautiful and i wanted it to be longer... but then i watched the "making of" feature, and the artist painted everything by finger... so i understand why it was so short... amazing piece of animation... pick it up...

As I watched this gorgeous short, I found myself comparing it (favorably) with the work of Frederic Back. This is a very visually stunning bit of animation, the narrative flows smoothly and I came away quite entranced by it all. On a par with anything that's been done in the last ten years and almost as good as The Man Who Planted Trees and Crac.

This particular DVD also comes with another short piece (Hemingway: A Portrait) and a "Making of" featurette on both shorts and has seperate options for English or French soundtracks. Most highly recommended.

An absolute master of animation. This movie is probably some of the best animation I had seen in quite a long time. Saw it about 5 years ago and can still image how beautiful the entire movie was. It's even more amazing when you learn about how it was made...basically finger paintings on glass. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it is. Definitely something to watch.

We saw this just recently (2006) at the IMAX in Portland. Our six year old was in awe. Literally. He really loved seeing the images painted (by fingers) onto glass. These reviews are right - it is a wonderful way to introduce children to Ernest Hemingway AND the beauty of animation.

I was thrilled when this DVD came in the mail, but what a huge disappointment it was when I put it into the player! It:

-Has no subtitles at all, not even in English

-Is not widescreen

To make things worse, I've found that some people don't like this kind of animation. I like it, but I had to turn it off because no one else in the room liked it.

The movies on this DVD were developed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hemingway's birth. I first watched the set "Hemingway: a portrait" and the animated feature "The Old Man and the Sea" (both included on this DVD) at an IMAX theatre and it was a revelation.

Most beautiful approach to animation I've ever seen, it is like Impressionist art coming to life. Not at all like the computer-wizardry of Pixar (which is also great!), but a more romantic, old-world approach to the art. Kudos to the artist and director Petrov and all the crew who supported this beautiful project. Petrov's artistry is superior and the star of the show , of course, but I can't help but praise the great music score and sound effects, the convincing voice of the actors and the deliberate pacing. it is all very classy. The screenplay is very effective, if you know and love the novella as I do, you can imagine how difficult it is to translate its power to the screen. While the plot is straightforward and the beauty of scenery and the natural world translate well to screen, it is challenging to convey the heroic effort, the dignity and the inner world of Santiago , but I feel they got it.

As other reviewers wrote here, it is "short but sweet".This is a 20-minute marvel and completely faithful to the story's spirit, even as it takes a few (minor) liberties with details (most readers won't notice).

The DVD also contains the short feature (20 minutes?) about the life of Hemingway. It has beautiful shots of the Michigan forests of his youth, the spectacular "run of the bulls" in the streets of Pamplona, archival photos of the writer's exploits and more. The acting parts are not very convincing but the show provides an uplifting review of Hemingway's life and is a fitting celebration of an extraordinary life.

Complementing the package, a very short (5 minutes?) featurette with the making-of of the animation. Petrov comes across as a humble, sweet guy, who cared deeply about the project. Quite the ideal of an artist, in my view.

Finally, all those features are also available in French, which might have been the original language of the main feature (produced in Quebec?).

This is a fine movie that can be enjoyed by the whole family. I plan to buy copies for close friends and relatives with the right sensibility for this ageless story.

Oscar Winner (Animated Best Short Film) in 2000, Aleksandr Petrov's "The Old Man and the Sea" is a beautifully crafted piece of art. Full of imagination and surprise, this animated film has striking visuals that are both realistic and dream-like. The movements of objects and characters (including the giant marlin) are dynamic and elegant, subtly painted with warm touch (see its early morning scene and it is breathtaking) showing their deeper emotions.

Russian-born director Aleksandr Petrov made this amazing film in Canada, where he worked for two and a half years to create this masterpiece, painting nearly 30,000 frames. His glass painting technique is unique because he mainly uses his fingers to paint (and brushes to add finishing touch), and a specially designed camera that takes each frame. The process can be seen in the DVD's brief interview section.

Gordon Pinsent ("Away from Her") provides the voice of Santiago. Kevin Duhaney is Manolin. The 20-minute animation's story (with the "lion" part) is largely faithful to the original novel by Hemingway. Besides the animation, Direct Source's DVD includes "Hemingway--A Portrait" and "Making of". The former is a short film about the life of Hemingway with the slices of moments from his life recreated by actors. Seeing this short on small screen is, as you expect, almost pointless. The making-of (eight minutes) is slightly better. It has an interview with Aleksandr Petrov and behind-the-scene footage showing the studio (four minutes) and behind-the-scene footage of "Hemingway--A Portrait" (four minutes).

This is an excellent animation with originality and imagination. I only wish that I could see it in the original IMAX format.