In this mock nature documentary, the life cycle of the wild salmon is shown from the pebbles of the spawning brook, to the sea, and back to the brook. The kicker here is that the fish are replaced with human figures in wet suits and face masks.
It's a clever.... well, there's a symbolic component to the replacement, but its result is at once to mock the form of the nature documentary, instill a sense of compassion for its subject, and to make the whole thing ridiculous. Whether one, the other, or all three will strike you as worthwhile, or even the entire thing as lacking merit, is a statement of who you are rather than this movie. You may argue that it goes on too long, and I wish a couple of minutes had been trimmed from its 14-minute length. However, it certainly moves along at a speedier clip than the usual lugubriously-narrated nature documentary.
I saw this at the IFC in New York as part of "Best Animated Shorts" show for the 2024 Oscars. It was included as an extra. To the Academy's shame, it wasn't nominated.
It's a clever.... well, there's a symbolic component to the replacement, but its result is at once to mock the form of the nature documentary, instill a sense of compassion for its subject, and to make the whole thing ridiculous. Whether one, the other, or all three will strike you as worthwhile, or even the entire thing as lacking merit, is a statement of who you are rather than this movie. You may argue that it goes on too long, and I wish a couple of minutes had been trimmed from its 14-minute length. However, it certainly moves along at a speedier clip than the usual lugubriously-narrated nature documentary.
I saw this at the IFC in New York as part of "Best Animated Shorts" show for the 2024 Oscars. It was included as an extra. To the Academy's shame, it wasn't nominated.