Die Nixe

One of the reviewers did a beautiful job of putting this amazing animated feature in context. I, like so many, would have given this a 10, just based on its incredible beauty. When the synopsis of the story is brought to life, I would double it. From the first moment of this film, I was captivated by the swirling loveliness of its images. The story of the mermaid and what she represents is startling. She is no Ariel but the spirit of something in the past. It takes the incredible storytelling to give the reasons for her existent to the viewers. Don't miss this.

There is not anything admirable about this short except the unique animation style. The story ,like everyone says, is hard to follow. Some scenes are beautiful, like the storm and flowing water. It's beautiful but vague (or the other way around ). The story has nothing new, the it's not about the story but the style.

Watch it for it's style only.

While I am a huge fan of Pixar and have complained in a few of my reviews when I felt some of their shorts were unfairly snubbed by the Oscars (especially for KNICK KNACK), here I actually think the winning short for 1998 (Pixar's GERI'S GAME) wasn't nearly as good a film as Petrov's MERMAID--which was also nominated but somehow came up short.

Russian director Aleksandr Petrov has been nominated for several Oscars for Best Animated Short Film--such as for THE COW and THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. Each features a style totally unlike any other studio, as Petrov's shorts are like little epic movies and moving tapestries combined. I am not exaggerating to say that his films are much more works of art than films--and you could never call them cartoons! I will try to describe the style, but frankly the only way to really appreciate them is to see one yourself. The artwork is like a painting that moves in a very fluid style--like the wind is pushing the scenes.

The narrative in Mermaid is somewhat muddled. The old monk has what must be considered a flashback 1/4 of the way through the film and then a dream 3/4 through, and frankly I'm a bit at a loss to try to explain either. Generally Petrov's storytelling is considered somewhat pedantic, despite or perhaps because he works entirely with literary adaptations, necessitating sometimes difficult omissions. Yet it's his art that he is famous for, and that is firmly on display in Mermaid. He is the most accomplished practitioner of a unique medium —he animates using oil paint on glass, using 2-to 3 layers to add depth to the images, animating new plates as the finished ones dry. It is a meticulous, yet beautiful technique that has won him much acclaim—3 previous Oscar nominations, including the win in 1999 for his adaptation of Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea. That film was a huge technical step forward as he adapted his style to the unforgiving IMAX format with the help of the Canadian production house Pascal Blais.

While Mermaid did not win, it likewise was nominated for the Oscar in 1996. Mermaid is in some ways the perfection of Petrov's original technique before money, improved technology, and production teams lead to Old Man and the Sea and My Love. Indeed it was the success of Mermaid that enabled Petrov to receive the kind of corporate patronage that allowed those films to happen.

With death closing in on him quickly, an elderly monk regales to his novice a story of his youth. It was the height of winter with snow and ice everywhere when he spotted a young girl floating in the river. He manages to drag her out then goes to fetch her some warm clothing. Upon his return he finds she has gone. Many months later, he is fishing when she pays him a more lively visit and they fall in love - but his own elderly master is watching over him and so, well... With Jacob's ladder bringing the short story to an end, what did actually happen to our would-be couple? Culminating in a threatening storm sequence, there is much religiosity to this story with many of the animations of the older characters looking like they'd been drawn by Michelangelo. Dark and grainy images, this time augmented by some powerful audio, make for a compelling ten minutes of drama from Aleksandr Petrov.