The Fan and the Flower

Fan and the Flower, The (2005)

*** (out of 4)

Nice animated short from Plympton about a lonely ceiling fan all alone in a room until one day when the old lady brings in a flower. The fan and flower eventually fall in love but soon the old woman forgets to take care of the flower and it finds itself dying. Okay, yes it's far-fetched that a fan and a flower would fall in love but the story here is just too cute where there won't be any problem suspending your disbelief. The movie isn't as colorful as some of Plymtpon's other shorts but I didn't have a problem with this as the black and white animation looked very good and fit the story quite nicely. I thought the story was pretty simple but they milked every bit of emotion they could out of it and in the end their love was actually quite touching.

On one hand, what better than animation to create an unusual and unique story like this. On the other hand, where did it come from? It's absurd, but in a way that's neither technically bad nor good.

It almost has a quality of a fable or a nighttime story a parent makes up for their child on the spot before bedtime. On one hand, that gives it refreshing freedom to do whatever it wants and go wherever it feels, but on the other hand, why? However, it's dry wit and loving appeal make it very entertaining and worth the watch, and for a rough and simplistic style of animation it does create some very interesting lighting techniques. It seems like a really, really good animation some kid did in his notebook at school, so if that appeals to you then by all means see it. It's just kind of odd.

Oh, and Giamatti's narration is great.

--PolarisDiB

This is departure from Bill Plympton's usual work, which is not to say that his cadre of fans won't find it equally enjoyable.

It is a charming little film depicting the unlikely romance between a ceiling fan and a potted flower. I know how odd that sounds but this engaging film makes it work. The cute little old lady shown only in silhouette reminds me of my own grandmother. And the sacrifice and twist at the end make for an enjoyable pay-off.

You can get it over at www.Filmporium.com. The $5 DVD also includes the frustrated rodent tale "Gopher Broke" and the appealing short "The Hill Farm".

I just saw this film tonight at FANTOCHE, the international festival for animated films which is held in Baden, Switzerland biannually. And I give a "TWO THUMBS UP". I was pretty much fed up with animations with futuristic features and tons of overloaded graphic technology, however finally I have found one full of pure natural beauty and heart-touching warmness! Although the drawing itself seems very simple and empty, you will see that the film is fuller by all means than any other animated movies. The background music also plays a big role in captivating your attention during each and every second of the film. The beautiful story line tells us what true love is. Made me think if I was ever a "fan" to someone. I cried for 3 minutes during the whole 7 minutes of the movie :)

Wow, Dan O'Shannon, what an exquisite, will-be-a-classic, little story you wrote, and narrated by one of my favorite actors, Paul Giamatti. I thought the narrative of the story transcended the sentimental ingeniously by having an ordinary ceiling fan as your story's protagonist and his love interest a diminutive, nondescript (for a time) potted plant. Their spiritual copulation reminded me of Donne's famous poem "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning":

If they be two, they are two so / As stiff twin compasses are two; / Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show / To move, but doth, if th' other do. //

And though it in the centre sit, / Yet when the other far doth roam, / It leans and hearkens after it, / And grows erect, as that comes home.//

Such wilt thou be to me, who must / Like th' other foot, obliquely run; / Thy firmness makes my circle just, / And makes me end where I begun.

I only wish The Fan and the Flower were in book form too, so I could read it to my grandkids...I would set it alongside George Saunders' The Very Persistent Gappers of Fripp. They'd love it! And I love your TV shows, Dan--Modern Family and all the rest--but I hope you also give us more of these gems...what a gift, thank you! And thank you for dropping in on my sister's class tonight in the snow! Your presence was magical and inspiring. :) Mary 3/30/2011