The Trades - DVD Review: Bitter Films: Volume One

Home · Reviews · Interviews · Contests · Blog · Forums · Follow Us On Twitter

CONTESTS

CD Giveaway - 33Miles, "One Life" Ends Aug 4, 2010
The country-pop sound established in their eponymous debut is a mainstay for this album as well, and even adds a little more southern flavor.

CD Giveaway - Phil Wickham, "Cannons" Ends Aug 3, 2010
With an opening shot that hits the sonic pinnacle, this collection of spiritual Brit pop/rock is heavily influenced by Keane, Travis, Coldplay, and U2.

CD Giveaway - Jars of Clay, "Closer" EP (+ Mini Poster) Ends Aug 2, 2010
This five-song EP serves as a preview of the band's new musical direction, free from the rigors of corporate Contemporary Christian Music.

DVD Giveaway: Kick-Ass Ends Aug 1, 2010
Get ready to have your ass kicked when this DVD of awesomeness releases to the home entertainment market.

Blu-ray Giveaway: Rambo - The Complete Collector's Set Ends Aug 1, 2010
Follow John Rambo's action-packed journey from Vietnam to Burma on this 4-disc set.

CD Giveaway - "Sunday in the Country: 12 Inspiring Hits From Today's Top Country Artists" Ends Jul 31, 2010
Themes of family and faith run deep in country music, and this collection gathers a dozen examples from currently popular artists.

CD Giveaway - Wavorly, "Conquering the Fear of Flight" Ends Jul 30, 2010
A churning, but consistently tuneful brew delivers lyrical images heavily colored by C.S. Lewis’ classic novel The Great Divorce.

CD Giveaway - Diamond Rio, "The Reason" Ends Jul 29, 2010
The long-time country band releases their first album of original Christian music.

ARTICLE

DVD Review: Bitter Films: Volume One
by Jonathan Baylis
Published: June 16, 2007

	Print this article
	E-mail this article
	More articles by this author

Rating: Unrated

Country: US
Release Date: May 25, 2007
Distributor: Bitter Films
Director:
· Don Hertzfeldt
Related Sites:
· Bitter Films

Grade: A

When I worked at Sundance Channel years ago, we aired a series featuring short films of every genre called "Shorts Stop". I remember watching Don Hertzfeldt's "Ah, L'amour" for the first time and it being one of the few times in my life where uncontrollable laughing led to tears of joy. It hit such a perfect, hilarious nerve and every guy in the office loved it.

I caught Don's "The Meaning of Life" at something called "The Animation Show" a few years back and it became my first review here for The-Trades.com. I don't think I knew at the time that Don and Mike Judge of "Beavis & Butthead" fame produced this festival. It was a fun, raucous collection of animated shorts that confirmed that that the art of diverse animation was still alive, if not thriving in this Disney-world.

"Bitter Films Vol. 1" is a collection of Don's shorts from 1995 - 2005. Included are "Ah L'amour" and "The Meaning of Life", but I was quite happy to view the shorts I hadn't caught before:

"Genre" is almost a modern take on Chuck Jones's "Duck Amuck" in that it's a fourth-wall breaking work utilizing an animator violently pitting his subject through different film genres and hybrids of genres. He takes it a notch further experimenting with live-action stop-motion and is peppered with some of Don's signature humor.

"Lily and Jim" takes a stab at exploring that awkward and painful blind date that we all seem to have had at some point and captures it perfectly.

"Billy's Balloon" was for me, the Bizarro universe version of the ubiquitous children's short, "The Red Balloon". It answers the question, "What if that red balloon that followed the boy was not so benevolent?" Dark and hilarious.

a frame from "Rejected"

"Rejected", however, displays Hertzfeldt's true, evil genius. Nominated for an Academy Award, I don't know how I missed this one! What begins as one of those rejected television ads for a family-oriented tv network, descends into a stream-of-consciousness dream that translates into utter chaos and a grotesque, scathing satire of the advertising industry. He then takes it a another step further and experiments with the materials of the medium itself to give you a nightmare that ends in a Brechtian silent scream that accurately reflects the result of bombardment from commercial advertising. Absolutely brilliant. (Oh, and by the way, Hertzfeldt has rejected the numerous offers to create commercials for many various corporations. He thinks all commercials are "lies".)

What began as deceptively simple stick figures has evolved into a language all his own. Don Hertzfeldt continues to push the medium to new levels, while entertaining all the same. I can't wait to see where he goes from here.

"Bitter Films" is not available at Amazon at the moment, but you can order it from the Bitter Films Website.

Other animation-related reviews I've written:
Paprika
Joe Cartoon
Aeon Flux
Creature Comforts
The Animation Show