The Drag

Nominated for the 1966 Oscar, this animated short from the National Film Board of Canada depicts a man on a psychiatrist's couch who's telling him about how he came to start smoking in order to join the "cool" crowd and after finding about the cancer scare has a difficult time stopping. Filled with background collages of various cig ad slogans as well as many figures the protagonist tries to emulate, this jazz-scored animation project is both entertaining and educational in showing how difficult it really is to kick an addictive habit as illustrated by a dream sequence when he tries for the first time. So for that reason, The Drag is highly recommend.

This short was nominated for an Academy Award, which is quite a feat, considering that it was produced for the Department of Health and Welfare in Canada by the National Film Board of Canada. The NFBC has done a fair number of similar projects, which can be expected, as it is a government-funded entity. It's actually quite well-done and worth tracking down. The subject? The health risks of smoking. Recommended.

The movie starts of in a club, with a girl getting drunk screaming for attention in a nightmare called society surrounding her in despair. The girl screams as her lungs turn smaller and smaller due to the pressure she causes to herself. Her ex-boyfriend, semi- drunk, young, naive tries to help her as he drags her to a cab, but no luck. No taxi driver, as money greedy as they are, did not stop for the young couple. I won't spoil the movie, but it is about blood, life and crime as he tries to carry the girl to a taxi that would take them in.

Having lost both parents to smoking, I have some strong feelings about this issue. In a very well animated presentation, the costs of smoking are laid out there. Obviously, this is over the top, but not by that much. It makes the whole world seem the enemy, which isn't always true. I hope more people continue to defy the need for cigarettes.

It's not that surprising that this cartoon was made by The National Film Board of Canada, as it was Oscar-nominated and tons of films sponsored by this government organization have received this honor. Most of the ones I have seen by them have been excellent and this one is pretty good--albeit very, very preachy. Now I want you to understand that I hate smoking and am applaud efforts to curb this nasty habit. However, sometimes anti-smoking campaigns are a bit heavy-handed and preachy. Fortunately, while THE DRAG certainly is, it is humorous and this takes some of the edge off the blatant message.

Technically speaking, the film is very good for the 1960s though inferior compared to the glory days of animation in the 1940s and 50s as well as today. Simply put, it could not stack up against any of the recent Oscar nominees. But it was a product of its times and it rather unfair to complain about the style when simple animation and low frame-rates were the norm at the time. It's very splashy and odd--and somewhat reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's animations for "The Monty Python's Flying Circus"--using cut out pictures and words along with original art.

A fascinating look into the 1960s, though I seriously doubt if the film changed many habits--especially since the big drop in smoking rates is a much more recent phenomenon.