Well first of all let me start off by saying, it's so shocking to see not even a single review posted for this short film. On the other hand, It's a great feeling sense to be the first to do so, it's an overwhelming process to share about an obscure piece of art. So, the plot is based on Michel Tremblay's short story "Le diable et le champignon" (The Devil and the Mushroom), it is quite simple but beneath the film's visible plot, Ungar offers a dream-like experience and a hidden commentary on the social decay. He creates a visual feast with his animation style which accentuates the film's chaotic structure and supported with fantastic score by Normand Roger. I remember discovering Ungar's short sometime back when I was checking out Ishu Patel's filmography who co-produced this project.
I had recommended this short to a cinephile who said Joaquín Cociña and Cristóbal León's The Bones (2021) as quite possibly the greatest piece of animation ever witnessed. I love the works of Chilean duo but didn't agree with the over exaggerated opinion. Well asked him to check out this short and he loved it, I had recommended Midori-Ko (2010), Dalibor Baric's Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus (2020), followed by Phil Tippett, Regina Pessoa and Ujicha's films.
In short, this is a nightmarish retelling of a The Devil and The Mushroom story in a surreal way through the prism of Lynchian angst with the thoughts "What the hell did I just watch?". If you happen to like this short, I would also recommend you to check out the works of National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Patrick Bokanowski, Jirí Trnka, Rein Raamat, György Kovásznai, Jan Lenica, Tatu Pohjavirta, Robert Morgan, Jirí Barta, Helmut Herbst, Manfredo Manfredi, Frank Finley, Witold Giersz, Priit Pärn, Jiri Brdecka, Theodore Ushev, Norman McLaren, Piotr Dumala, Danuta Adamska-Strus, Craig Welch, Roze Stiebra, Te Wei, Len Lye, Martha Colburn, Tomasz Popakul, Patrick Bouchard, Brothers Quay, Rémy M. Larochelle, Izù Troin, Jean-Loup Felicioli, Alain Gagnol, Jerzy Kucia, Nobuhiro Aihara, Barry Purves, Ideya Garanina, Tadanari Okamoto, Raoul Servais, Vladimir Petkevich, Garri Bardin, Aleksandr Petrov, Yoji Kuri, Zbigniew Rybczynski, Georges Schwizgebel, Herbert Pierre, Vladimir Leschiov, Vladimir Samsonov, Caroline Leaf, José Antonio Sistiaga, Rao Heidmets, Stacey Steers, Naoyuki Tsuji, Pramod Pati, Michel Ocelot, Kunio Kato, Daniel Sousa, Piotr Kamler, Ashley Thorpe, Anna Malina Zemlianski, Mário Gajo de Carvalho, Ryan Larkin, Leszek Mozga, William Kentridge, Réka Bucsi, Bretislav Pojar, Christian Volckman, Suzan Pitt and Jacques Drouin (RIP).
I had recommended this short to a cinephile who said Joaquín Cociña and Cristóbal León's The Bones (2021) as quite possibly the greatest piece of animation ever witnessed. I love the works of Chilean duo but didn't agree with the over exaggerated opinion. Well asked him to check out this short and he loved it, I had recommended Midori-Ko (2010), Dalibor Baric's Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus (2020), followed by Phil Tippett, Regina Pessoa and Ujicha's films.
In short, this is a nightmarish retelling of a The Devil and The Mushroom story in a surreal way through the prism of Lynchian angst with the thoughts "What the hell did I just watch?". If you happen to like this short, I would also recommend you to check out the works of National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Patrick Bokanowski, Jirí Trnka, Rein Raamat, György Kovásznai, Jan Lenica, Tatu Pohjavirta, Robert Morgan, Jirí Barta, Helmut Herbst, Manfredo Manfredi, Frank Finley, Witold Giersz, Priit Pärn, Jiri Brdecka, Theodore Ushev, Norman McLaren, Piotr Dumala, Danuta Adamska-Strus, Craig Welch, Roze Stiebra, Te Wei, Len Lye, Martha Colburn, Tomasz Popakul, Patrick Bouchard, Brothers Quay, Rémy M. Larochelle, Izù Troin, Jean-Loup Felicioli, Alain Gagnol, Jerzy Kucia, Nobuhiro Aihara, Barry Purves, Ideya Garanina, Tadanari Okamoto, Raoul Servais, Vladimir Petkevich, Garri Bardin, Aleksandr Petrov, Yoji Kuri, Zbigniew Rybczynski, Georges Schwizgebel, Herbert Pierre, Vladimir Leschiov, Vladimir Samsonov, Caroline Leaf, José Antonio Sistiaga, Rao Heidmets, Stacey Steers, Naoyuki Tsuji, Pramod Pati, Michel Ocelot, Kunio Kato, Daniel Sousa, Piotr Kamler, Ashley Thorpe, Anna Malina Zemlianski, Mário Gajo de Carvalho, Ryan Larkin, Leszek Mozga, William Kentridge, Réka Bucsi, Bretislav Pojar, Christian Volckman, Suzan Pitt and Jacques Drouin (RIP).
