User Reviews

Here's a feast for the eyes that will give you indigestion. Once in a while a work of art will come along that is so appealing to the senses, yet its theme is flawed. Let's talk about the flaws first.

The story attempts to tell a moral tale of greed and its hazards; however it fails to distinguish between "greed" and "economy". The protagonist of the story is an economical man; he saves everything; he finds value in other people's trash; he recycles things that everyone else throws away. He despises waste and tries to find a use for everything. I equate this to the Native American Indian who kills an animal and finds a use for every last bone & sinew. Or, perhaps less noble but equally economical: the dumpster diver.

The fable then focuses on the greedy; those who rape & ravage for their selfish and wasteful purposes. I would equate this to the modern American hunter who kills a deer, takes the tender meat and dumps the majority of the carcass on the side of the road (try driving through Montana, and you'll see what I mean).

This film fails to make the important distinction between the two. Both the former and the latter are lumped into the same category. And as a result, the central theme is invalid.

The protagonist's only flaw (the act for which he is punished) occurs in the very beginning when he gathers cherries from the sidewalk and eats them. Not wishing to waste the seeds, he eats them too. Folks, is this "greed"? Far from it. But apparently the writer thinks it is. Apparently the writer feels that we should waste fallen cherries and instead go buy them at the supermarket. And we should trash everything but the savory part. I wonder how the writer would feel about recycling aluminum, paper and plastic.

OK, that's the philosophical critique. Now on to the artistic. From the opening scenes this blew me away. The style is unlike any other animation I've seen. The artist/director paid close attention to perspective, perception and visual angles. The result is that the viewer is truly drawn into this cartoon world as if it were reality. There's nothing bubble-gummy about this. You feel like you're standing right inside the room with the man (and often you are placed within the eyes of the man himself).

The music (traditional Japanese) is quite good, but you must have a taste for this "weird" sort of stuff. Be prepared to hear the narrator sing his lines with thick tenor vibrato whilst accompanied by a twangy instrument that sounds something like a banjo with 3 strings. Personally I loved it.

I am extremely impressed with the artistic side, but that only intensifies my disgust at the rather vapid and undevelopped theme underneath it. As a result I must average my artistic rating (10 stars) with my thematic rating (4 stars) and give it an overall 7.

Watch it if you get a chance. Then post back whether you agree or disagree with what I've said here.

I freely admit that I don't think I truly grasp it quite yet, but that does not prevent me from absolutely loving this piece. Contrary to some previous reviews, I absolutely love the sound effects. I thought the audio pitch when it switches to POV shots really envelope the viewer into the picture, particularly noting the cherry eating scene. The animation is stylistically rough, avoiding solid fills, but complements it's rough construction with soft pastel-like strokes. The deep earthy palette reinforces the connection between the man and nature. Don't expect a conventional animated piece (I.E. vibrant colors, hard edges, and a conspicuous theme). I absolutely loved it and would highly recommend it to any animation buffs or lovers of the unconventional film.

This film is a little difficult to digest, much like the cherry pits consumed by the main character. I personally quite enjoy Japanese film, though as another commenter posted earlier, it can sometimes take some acclimation. And even I found this a little weird, though only for the story content itself.

The animation is quite striking and well done, and I disagree with some comments that objected to the singsong style of the narrator throughout the story; for myself, the Japanese language lends itself well to this type of iteration (if you've been to Tokyo, think of the "Irasshimase!" that greets you when you enter a shop) and I thought it added to the authenticity of the story.

The film probably comes across as weird and bizarre to some people, and for good reason: it is indeed a bit off kilter. But I don't think that's any reason to dismiss it. There is some clear talent here, and some very nice storytelling - and the ending had me laugh out loud, proving once again that comedy is 70% delivery.

This animated short from Japan is bizare. It is a fable I suppose about a guy who eats too many cherries so a cherry tree grows out of his head and then a bunch of people have picnics on his head. Yea, it makes no sense and features a anoyingly bombastic Japanese voice over that will enrage you more than it is entertaining. The animation is intentionaly crude but this one was somewhat hard to swallow. GRADE: B

I fell in love with this film the first time I saw it, and it remains one of my absolute favorite animated shorts. I can entirely understand why a lot of people dislike Atama Yama - it's slow-paced, eccentric, and the story is kinda nonsensical. But for me it works. Amazingly so.

The art is very original. Its unique design is quite different from the typical anime style, and much more expressive. The animation is very lively as well. Though rough, it has a wonderful sense of weight, space, and movement. Complementing the visuals is a narration sung by a minstrel, who also plays the shamisen.

When it all comes together, the result is beautiful. For me, Yamamura creates an evocative, humorous mood in every scene. Can't wait to see what he does next.

This short, done with rough hand-drawn animation and with sung and spoken narration (a musical form of entertainment, the Japanese equivalent of the Western minstrel/bard), tells the story of an old man so parsimonious that he couldn't bear throwing away the pits from some old, discarded cherries, which he ate rather than discard. What follows is true, quite poetic, justice. As the old saying goes, true justice is something most of us would actually be happier without. An Academy Award nominee for Animated Short in a very good year. It bears repeated viewing and is an excellent piece of work. Hopefully, it will see print sometime soon, as it deserves a wider audience. It is part of Shorts Program 115 on the Sundance Channel as well as part of the program for the first year of The Animation Show, still showing in some locations. Give it a look-well worth seeing. Most highly recommended.

Koji Yamamura's "Atama-yama" ("Mount Head" in English) reminded me of a story that I read in elementary school. I don't know whether or not it's based on that story, but it does offer a good lesson in selflessness. The stingy old man's experiences come across as punishment for his miserly ways. When people think of Japanese animation, it's often anime that comes to mind, but these short cartoons are among the most interesting. If a person finds the movie hard to understand, it could be a cultural thing.

Whatever the case, I recommend the short. I hope to be able to see more of Koji Yamamura's work.

I just discovered this animation artist from Japan, Koji Yamamura, from Amid on Cartoon Brew. One of Yamamura's animated shorts showcased there was this one as linked from YouTube, Atama-yama (Mt. Head), that was nominated for the Oscar as Best Animated Short for 2002. It tells how a man who chews cherry pits keeps having some leaves grow on top of his bald head that he frequently cuts off and saves in a jar. After a while, he lets the leaves grow into a tree but then people start hanging around on his head so he tears the tree off leaving a hole with water. As all this happens, a narrator tells what goes on in various pitches. This was such an interestingly weird short that I may watch it again to catch up on all the images. Yamamura is truly an artist among his country's animators. Uniquely funny especially with the way it all ended. So on that note, I highly recommend Atama-yama.

It is very possible that I simply didn't give the movie a fair enough chance because it was so immediately unappealing to me (something similar happened with Triplets of Belleville), but I really should have caught on when I put the film on and my roommate, an exchange student from Japan, immediately started laughing at the movie, saying that it sounded dumb. Now, I don't agree that it is dumb, the animation is very simple but clearly very skilled. It's like classic animation with added layers that add another element of realism to them while remaining strictly in the realm of the surreal at the same time.

But the subject matter is entirely unappealing to me. It has an interesting message about stinginess and greed, but it is wrapped in such an unpleasant package that it is almost not worth learning, especially because you already knew it anyway. The sound effects while the man is loudly gobbling cherries and cherry pits, for example, are indeed repulsive.

There was a clever scene of animation as we kept diving endlessly into the hole that the man finds in his head when he pulls the sapling out of his scalp, but it goes on for so long that it seems to overshadow everything else. There is so much stock put into that one sequence that it is almost like the whole movie is about it.

As I said about Triplets of Belleville, this would have been a great thing for a late night TV program like adult swim, or its Japanese counterpart, but an Academy Award nominated film? It gives me the impression that there is not generally a long list of animated short films for the Academy to choose from.

Atama-yama (2003)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Japanese film received an Oscar-nomination for Best Animated Short and in my opinion it should have won. We meet an elderly miser who is so cheap that he prefers to fill up his house with various garbage he can get for free in the streets. One day he picks up a bunch of cherries and decides to eat the pits since he doesn't want to get rid of something free. Soon a tree begins to grow from the top of his head. The idea of a tree growing from someone's head is silly but this film is so incredibly smart and well-drawn that you'll overlook that minor plot detail. I was really surprised at how effective this film was and the majority of the credit has to go to director Yamamura who really adds some great stuff. Having the start of the film being shown from the point-of-view of the man was a great touch as was one of the final scenes in the film where we see the same image just repeating itself to great effect. It should go without saying that this short is 100% Japanese with its look and style. It's doubtful American kids would know what to make of the images here but some of them are very dark and moody, which will sit a lot better with adults.

This has as absurd a premise as one can imagine. A stingy man feels he will be wasteful if doesn't eat the cherry pits along with the cherries. Soon a cherry tree begins growing out of his head. This leads to some social missteps and some pretty weird responses to the cruelty of people.

This should have gotten the Oscar. It was dreamy, meditative, and surreal. I absolutely loved it. The narration was sort of chanted or sung, like it was in imitation of some Japanese traditional performance that I (in my cultural myopia) wasn't familiar with. But I got very caught up in it. See it in a theater if you can--it works great if you feel surrounded by it. Funny, weird stuff.