User Reviews

This animated short was part of the SPIKE AND MIKE'S CUTTING EDGE CLASSICS DVD. While some of the inclusions were quite exceptional, such as BROTHER and MAAKIES, some were also quite dull...like this film.

This short is filmed in black and white and consists of two guys standing within or around a large square in the middle of the screen. They are holding on to a large rope and are playing a weird game of tug-o-war that appears multi-dimensional. They pull and pull and move about until eventually the game is complete. There isn't any context or dialog--just the two simply drawn figures pulling and pulling. Frankly, there just wasn't much to it and the film, though somewhat well made, was dull as could be and I can't recommend it.

"Seiltänzer" or "Rope Dance" is a West German 10-minute film from 1986, so it has its 30th anniversary this year. The writer and director is Raimund Krumme and this little animated movie was not only his first work (he was in his mid-30s here), but also his most successful as it won him a German Film Award. I cannot share the praise though. I must say I did see occasional glimpses of creativity, but the style did not appeal to me at all, not only because the animation looks a lot older than 1980s, but also because the plot and story felt fairly strange and bizarre to me. The execution was in a way that, despite creativity, make this film seem dull to audiences I am afraid. At least I can say that I did not care about the characters at all and also that I am not curious about other projects by Krumme. But I can somewhat see that awards bodies would like this film here. I did not though and that's why I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended. If you still want to see it, the good news is that there is no dialogue in here, so you won't need subtitles, even if you don't speak a word German as this one here does not either.