Blood Tea and Red String

An Ideal film for those who like to disappear and reappear into some one else's fantasy. Cegaveske has created a world so full of detail and atmosphere it feels as if you are sucked into a dream. Like dreams, the actual storyline does not seem to matter, it feels more like a series of events unfolding before you. Also the fact that it is dialog free allows you to interpret the narrative for your self. Or just sit back and let the film just happen, when the credits role you may think what just happened, did I just watch what I think I did, oh sh*t I'm in my living room and my tea has gone cold. Technically the film is amazing, stop motion is a very laborious process and for one person to do all that is so impressive, it is not surprising it took 13 years to make! Stop-motion animation is a dieing art form so its nice to know that some artists remain true to it. The quality of stop motion animation creates such a magic feel that CGI will never achieve. The animation has a style of Jiri Trnkr, for it is very beautiful, but with a dark twist Svankmajer style. What makes it unique it that it is very much the vision of one person. Also fair play to Mark Growden for creating a sound track that perfectly complements the film and creates that fairy tail feel. Two scenes that really stick out are the mice having a drunken punch up, you get the impression that they really want to lump each other hard in the chops. But it's the trippin' out after eating the yellow fruit which really got me. If you like a unconventional fairy tail, a bit of fantasy or have any interest in stop motion, please treat your eyes to this. Also if you like this check out another fantastic feature length stop-motion film called Krysar; (The Pied Piper / The Rat-catcher) by Jiri Barta, its quite dark too!

"Blood Tea and Red String" is the latest watch in my line of obscure animated films I wanted to see. I gotta say for all the talk of this thing being a horror movie, it really only delivers on that in the imagery. The story, while darker than most childhood fairy tales, doesn't revolve around the macabre. It is a Gothic, haunting movie but not really what I'd call horror.

As for the film itself, I liked it. Would watch again if I had the chance, though it's not necessarily a re-watchable kind of flick. It is an art-house film - through and through. While this is the kind of art-house stuff I can get behind (or at least, you know, is actually entertaining and thought provoking instead of pretentious or dull), art movies are something you have to be in the mood for.

Forget about the story.. This is for those who watch movies to gather sensations, feelings, emotions. If you are the kind that enjoys paying attention to the detail you will love this one, if you want easy entertainment try something else. There are no big laughs or dramatic scenes in this one, this is a movie about feelings and sensibility taken to the extreme. If you are a extremely sensible person you've got to see this one, it is for your kind! Most likely women are going to understand and enjoy this movie to its maximum for its a masterpiece of feminine expression and subtlety.

Just watched it on Sitges Fantastic Cinema Festival with an almost full audience on a weekday at 9:15.. Unbelievable!

Blood, Tea and Red String is a fantastic stop-motion flick that delivers some drama that'll keep you very invested in the almost silent characters.

It revolves around these white mice who stole a doll of sorts from these little creatures who live inside an Oak tree. The tree creatures want their belongings back and they set out on a little adventure to recover their stolen goods. But it's not going to be so easy with poisonous fruit, man-eating plants and a conniving spider in the way. Don't forget about the greedy and confused mice.

This is a magical-feeling little world that Christiane Cegavske has built. From great little flowing streams (which kinda looks like Saran Wrap) to a little bird with a skull for its' head. Everything in this flick exudes creativity. A fantastic aspect to the film I really enjoyed was the camaraderie she gave the Oak Tree Creatures. She portrayed them as genuinely loving creatures, and it really came to fruition. And the wise frog almost steals the show with his Yoda type qualities. And not to mention the unique-sounding fairytale music as well.

Everything came to a fantastic conclusion in this movie. A labor of love it was and a love of labor it became for me. If you're interested in stop-motion ala Svankenmejer (?) or fantasy for that matter, then you should definitely give this little wonder of a film a whirl.

A Feast for the scenes. If you, spooky weirdo animation freaks have overlooked this, well your blow'n it! No corporate B.S. here. Pure American Gothic traditional stop motion graphics with weirdo spooky cute characters that just keep coming. Surreal soundtrack, with Brothers Quay hat tipping and Lynchalitious timing! Like your most wonderful soothing dream and your most disturbing nightmare rolled into one. Breaks any and all language barriers. Plays exactly the same for any language or culture. No crude pop references, no pumped up sassy pop covers crammed in for record sale tie ins. Help spread the word as the "evil machine" is not behind a work so honest and pure. Wonderful and devastating.