Apparently Croatian animation company, Zagreb Film, has been busy over the past 40 years or so. According to the film's opening they've "produced 600 animated films, winning more than 400 international awards" and coined a style known as "the Zagreb school."
OK, being the ugly American I am, I had no idea any of this was going on. So, in an effort to broaden my knowledge of animation, and indeed the world, I added "The Best of Zagreb Film - Nudity Required" to my Netflix queue.
I felt so worldly when it arrived and I meant to dig in and see what this was all about. I mean, come on, it has the word "nudity" right in the title! How bad can it be?!
About two weeks later (I'm a busy guy, what can I say!) I've finally found the time sit down and really give this collection some time and attention and here's what I've come up with:
Wow. This is some really weird stuff.
It's not as if I was looking for Disney-esque animation with singing forest animals or anything, but this was outside even my broad expectations.
I'll review each short individually, starting with:
"Way to Your Neighbor" by Nedeljko Dragic
This odd little film portrays a rotund character showering, applying deodorant and playing his genitalia like a bass before dressing in a tux and driving an X-8 tank out of his garage.
That's the cartoon.
Apparently it's very funny, but I don't get it.
"Satiemania" by Zdenko Gasparovic
Set to the music of Erik Satie, this set of five odd vignettes includes 1) Lots of characters walking, 2) Panning over static images of various faces, 3) Reflections in the rain (the best of the five in my opinion), 4) A woman undressing and falling into bed, and 5) A lot of random violence and a male character with a penis for a head dancing.
Article comments
1 - Tim Hall
But it's deeply symbolic of man's struggle against his socio-political environment. Or something.
2 - Andertoons
LOL... Or something...