19 reviews
Incredible Artwork; Morbid Story
- ccthemovieman-1
- Sep 2, 2008
- Permalink
The very definition of morbid humor.
- Polaris_DiB
- Nov 4, 2005
- Permalink
Talks reality, in a bizzare fashion
- AnonymousbutDilpreet002
- Aug 17, 2020
- Permalink
Baginski's next little masterpiece
After the award-winning Cathedral (Katedra, 2002), Fallen Art (Sztuka Spadania) is Tomasz Baginski second computer-animated short film.
Like The Cathedral, Fallen Art is a breathtaking show of animation, which will undoubtedly please all fans of computer artwork, but not only. Baginski's care for detail and his characteristic style are even more evident than in his first film - it's a real treat.
And let's not forget just a little touch of macabre... well maybe even a bit more than a little this time...
All in all, a great piece of art. If you think you've seen great computer animation in full-length movies like "Sky Captain..." or "Shrek" or whatever, then see "The Cathedral" and "Fallen Art" and think again. Baginski's in a class all of his own.
Like The Cathedral, Fallen Art is a breathtaking show of animation, which will undoubtedly please all fans of computer artwork, but not only. Baginski's care for detail and his characteristic style are even more evident than in his first film - it's a real treat.
And let's not forget just a little touch of macabre... well maybe even a bit more than a little this time...
All in all, a great piece of art. If you think you've seen great computer animation in full-length movies like "Sky Captain..." or "Shrek" or whatever, then see "The Cathedral" and "Fallen Art" and think again. Baginski's in a class all of his own.
About the story
It is interesting how everybody was astonished by the visualization in Katedra and in this one. And nobody dig into the story behind. But Beginsky's stories are more than just an add on to the graphics.
This masterpiece tells us how some individuals can decide about life and death, and what the army really is. Soldiers are just a tool to achieve the goal of the art called WAR.
While the Katedra is more the critique to the church. The man is alone and when the church shows him the 'light' he's captured forever.
In my opinion Beginski tries to describe the problems in a more subtle way with great visualization and 3D graphics.
This masterpiece tells us how some individuals can decide about life and death, and what the army really is. Soldiers are just a tool to achieve the goal of the art called WAR.
While the Katedra is more the critique to the church. The man is alone and when the church shows him the 'light' he's captured forever.
In my opinion Beginski tries to describe the problems in a more subtle way with great visualization and 3D graphics.
Another little masterpiece!
After seeing Tomek Baginski's "Katedra" I thought nothing could beat it. "Sztuka spadania" is at least as good as the previous film but impressive in a different manner. "Katedra" is a masterpiece of suspense, climate and superb computer graphics skills. In terms of craftsmanship, "Sztuka spadania" shows huge (I dare say) advancement in some areas of lighting, rendering and animation (here I bow low to the whole team of the film's creators). In terms of script/directing it's a whole different story. Whereas "Katedra" made me shiver in awe (realy!), "Sztuka spadania" made my sensors of wicked humor rage! Although some of the scenes might appear macabre, the whole idea, for me, is totally hilarious. The short story is brilliantly spiced up with the music of a Romanian brass band (Fanfare Ciocarlia I suppose). To cut the long story short, "Sztuka spadania" is a must see! BTW, if I could decide on the Oscars... ehh... Next time!
Not a simple exercise.
- jjjjjjjjjjjjj-4
- Feb 25, 2007
- Permalink
Cannon meat soldier and media glorifying the war
In these days of US heading for another proxy war, movies like that are more important then ever. Especially when media today totally controls the opinions of mindless viewers. When they can take pictures of dying soldiers and turn it into entertainment. We see it everyday on the TV screens and in papers. And the public is hungry for more. If it is not cruel and bloody, it is not entertaining to them. Maybe when they themselves or their sons get drafted to fight and lose their lives for all the wrong reasons, they will think again and remember this short animated story by Tomek Baginski. And if some of them survive and come back to the once great country devastated by the WW III, they will have plenty of time to reevaluate whom they voted for in 2008 while standing in the soup line.
Fallen Art
Set atop a rickety watch-tower with a platform more akin to a diving board, a troop of soldiers routinely keep watch, and just as routinely seem to plummet onto the concrete below - all handily timed for the awaiting photographer below to capture their new-found splatted-ness with his camera. The photographs are rushed indoors where they form the most unlikely source of ... art! Indeed, the larger than life "artist" seems to be able to reinvigorate the corpse's image on screen to mirror his own movements - just like dance! Such athleticism takes it's toll, though, and soon he must rest. Who is this mysterious and sinister puppeteer - or is he, too, just a puppet? They must have a never-ending supply of sentries too! Great stop motion animation with a wee bit of slap-stick and a good dose of the macabre!
- CinemaSerf
- Feb 8, 2024
- Permalink
My Goodness!
I don't know quite where causality is here, but it certainly is quite the presentation. A big, fascist soldier, gives a skinny enlisted man a medal and then kicks him off a stone outcropping, to his death. His body is then used by an enormously obese man to do a dancing scene. It would appear that at first this would be seen as art, but is art sometimes someone's cruelty.
Okay, the message was anti-war....but I still couldn't see the brilliance in the message.
I have now seen this short film twice. After reviewing it the first time, I received a well written message imploring me to reconsider my review and that I had missed the important anti-war message. So, I have just deleted my first review and have decided to try the film one more time--though I still am very surprised the film received the BAFTA award (the British equivalent of the Oscar).
Before I even talk about the content of the film, the first thing that you are bound to notice is the absolutely breath-taking CGI. Despite not coming from a big-name studio like Pixar or Dreamworks, this computer animation is amazing--with rich details and better technical quality than I would have expected from such a company. They deserved lots of kudos for this.
As for the content of the film, after looking at the film a second time, I could see the anti-war message just like I did the first time, but I won't go so far as to describe it as "point-less". Sure, there is a point to it--but I just don't think they made it very well. Those who are gung-ho anti-war folks will probably applaud its grotesque message. While I am not some pro-war nut, I just thought that the message was way, way too heavy-handed and gross. Sure, war is bad (duh) but I can think of at least a dozen films off the top of my head that said this better and in more subtle ways.
Overall, technically great but not a film I heartily recommend.
Before I even talk about the content of the film, the first thing that you are bound to notice is the absolutely breath-taking CGI. Despite not coming from a big-name studio like Pixar or Dreamworks, this computer animation is amazing--with rich details and better technical quality than I would have expected from such a company. They deserved lots of kudos for this.
As for the content of the film, after looking at the film a second time, I could see the anti-war message just like I did the first time, but I won't go so far as to describe it as "point-less". Sure, there is a point to it--but I just don't think they made it very well. Those who are gung-ho anti-war folks will probably applaud its grotesque message. While I am not some pro-war nut, I just thought that the message was way, way too heavy-handed and gross. Sure, war is bad (duh) but I can think of at least a dozen films off the top of my head that said this better and in more subtle ways.
Overall, technically great but not a film I heartily recommend.
- planktonrules
- Aug 14, 2009
- Permalink
Brilliant. Explosion of creativity!
3D artist are so often obsessive, about faking naturalism, about proper kinetics, about cameras feeling like cameras, but they often lose the plot in the code.
These people, where they from? Czeck? Poland?
Honestly, it really doesn't matter because the film is a timeless slice of this decade.
I want to make projects that would allow the introduction of these film-makers.
Tomorrow... I want it today!
Please, if you ever have an opportunity to see this short 3D animated film, do it! It is a lesson in so many cliché's (sp?) - Less is more. Hit 'em where it hurts. Nothing's shocking. Make 'em relate.
I could go on...
These people, where they from? Czeck? Poland?
Honestly, it really doesn't matter because the film is a timeless slice of this decade.
I want to make projects that would allow the introduction of these film-makers.
Tomorrow... I want it today!
Please, if you ever have an opportunity to see this short 3D animated film, do it! It is a lesson in so many cliché's (sp?) - Less is more. Hit 'em where it hurts. Nothing's shocking. Make 'em relate.
I could go on...
Another quality short from Baginski
- Horst_In_Translation
- Oct 8, 2013
- Permalink
Short about war, not animation.
It is not about how hard is producing animations. The topic is much more deep. The short tells how human life is wasted in making real the project of war. In war, soldiers are sent to die for beautiful causes like destroy Vietnam to save democracy, steal the oil of Iraq or make a cartoon with corpses.Only people who make war can feel "beautiful" that kind of art: the art of war.
For example, Hitler wanted to make a perfect race, no matter the sacrifice done or people to kill: he sees art in what he does, but no other people, thats why the theater in the short is empty.
Also you can find a superb animation and a fresh way to expose the anti-war message.
For example, Hitler wanted to make a perfect race, no matter the sacrifice done or people to kill: he sees art in what he does, but no other people, thats why the theater in the short is empty.
Also you can find a superb animation and a fresh way to expose the anti-war message.
Can there be honor amid militarism?
Tomasz Bagiński's "Sztuka spadania" ("Fallen Art" in English) poses the question of what constitutes glory amid war. The main character makes short movies featuring the dead bodies of soldiers pushed off of a springboard onto a slab of concrete. In short, he turns the soldiers' entire history into his own entertainment. I get the feeling that Bagiński made this as a reference to his own government's participation in the invasion of Iraq. Poland's government, like the rest of the governments in the so-called coalition of the willing, joined up with the invasion and occupation despite massive opposition among its population. I don't know how many people Poland lost in that most ill conceived of wars. There can be no doubt that it will weigh on the Poles' conscience for decades to come.
Anyway, this is a good cartoon. The best cartoons are these short ones, as opposed to the features voiced by the celebrities of the moment.
Anyway, this is a good cartoon. The best cartoons are these short ones, as opposed to the features voiced by the celebrities of the moment.
- lee_eisenberg
- Mar 14, 2016
- Permalink
Imagination vs Knowledge
I had to make a short presentation for a work not so long ago, using this short film as background and I was quite delighted with it. The fact that I didn't know any work of this filmmaker has led to even more my admiration. There was so much in so short time I could talk about, first with details that are immense, starting with the title, the fact of not having human speech, symbolisms, plus a multitude of them in this cyclical story without end, where everything fit together but you're not quite sure what the main message is. And therein lies the joke of what parallelism may exist with the days of yesterday, today and tomorrow, with different reading each one of us will have after seeing it. I really believe that the major objective of this short was achieved, have fun (yes, because although we are facing a very dramatic story, the humor isn't a foreign language) and bring all the ingredients for us to cook with our imagination and perhaps even more than that.
"Fallen Art" - by Platige Image
- afrinsultanaakhi-96713
- Sep 29, 2022
- Permalink
Amused me with the macabre content but left me wanting an understanding which it didn't provide
In a long deserted military base a high rickety tower stands high above the ground. At the top is an officer awarding medals to damaged soldiers who survived the war before pushing them to their death on the ground far below. At this point their corpses are photographed by another sinister man and the resulting image sent to his employer far from the site.
This is the whole plot of the short, apart from the detail of the ending which I'll not spoil beyond saying that it is oddly comic and darkly weird. In terms of straight animation the ideas and the creation of them are good as the short looks good but also seems to mix styles and produce animation techniques within other animation techniques. It also is delivered with a real sinister air that works well with the more comic (but still sinister) conclusion. So on this level I liked it as a film, but on the downside I did feel like it left me hanging a little bit.
It plays like a comment on the disposable nature of life to some within the military (this is a Polish film) whereas from a slightly different angle it appears to be commenting on the treatment of soldiers who no longer serve a use on the battlefield. And I could go on – there are a couple of different readings of this film but it doesn't really help the viewer to appreciate them. If there is a serious point here then the comic ending rather detracts from the seriousness of it; conversely if there is only a rather macabre creative theme to the short, the specifics of the start seem very, well, "specific" for there not to be a pointed commentary aspect to it.
Fallen Art still works as a short animation though and it is well created with a dark and sinister air to the comic of the grotesque. I just wish that it had been clearer to the viewer in regards what it was trying to be/do.
This is the whole plot of the short, apart from the detail of the ending which I'll not spoil beyond saying that it is oddly comic and darkly weird. In terms of straight animation the ideas and the creation of them are good as the short looks good but also seems to mix styles and produce animation techniques within other animation techniques. It also is delivered with a real sinister air that works well with the more comic (but still sinister) conclusion. So on this level I liked it as a film, but on the downside I did feel like it left me hanging a little bit.
It plays like a comment on the disposable nature of life to some within the military (this is a Polish film) whereas from a slightly different angle it appears to be commenting on the treatment of soldiers who no longer serve a use on the battlefield. And I could go on – there are a couple of different readings of this film but it doesn't really help the viewer to appreciate them. If there is a serious point here then the comic ending rather detracts from the seriousness of it; conversely if there is only a rather macabre creative theme to the short, the specifics of the start seem very, well, "specific" for there not to be a pointed commentary aspect to it.
Fallen Art still works as a short animation though and it is well created with a dark and sinister air to the comic of the grotesque. I just wish that it had been clearer to the viewer in regards what it was trying to be/do.
- bob the moo
- Feb 20, 2011
- Permalink
about war
Or, more exactly, propaganda of war. dark, macabre - the music from Balkans as clue - , well crafted and proposing the expected provocative story of Tomek Baginski. ironic parable about war, armies, soldiers and dark sides of "innocent" delights.
- Kirpianuscus
- Jul 7, 2018
- Permalink