July 30, 2010

The Adventures of Prince Achmed



Data
Title: Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed
Year: 1926
Length: 66 minutes
Director: Lotte Reiniger
Writer: Lotte Reiniger [based on Arabian Nights]
Music: Wolfgang Zeller



My reaction
Synopsis: a prince kidnaps a demon woman, then has to rescue her from further kidnappers
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Concept: Great. The first ever animated feature film.
Story: Good.
Characters: Indifferent. Fairytale archetypes.
Dialog: Indifferent.
Pacing: Indifferent. It moves way too quickly. If you blink you'll miss something.
Cinematography: Great.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Indifferent.
Music: Great.
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great). It's no Snow White, but it's pretty awesome. Coming from someone who has been so far generally underwhelmed by silent films, this is by far the best one I've seen.
Objective Rating: 3.1/4 (Very good).

3 comments:

  1. Yeah, this is pretty good. Thought I found the technique more interesting than anything. I'm not sure if I'd ever watch it again, but it's pretty amazing how it was made.

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  2. I've actually seen this! Although I'd never do a re-watch, I agree with chrisfilm that the technique (and dedication) was amazing. As someone who always enjoys knowing the reasons why art is made I think that this derves a 10/10.

    (P.S. This is chrisfilm's wife.)

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  3. While I was watching it, probably a good half of my attention went to wondering how various things were shot. It's a good thing the DVD has some behind-the-scenes stuff in the bonus features.

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