Mozjoukine

We see so little Chinese animation and that often gets confused with Japanese Manga - in revenge for days past when Samurai film like Tomu Uchida's Lightning Swords of Death would get passed off as another Kung Fu Klassic? The excellent Art College 1994 was a total surprise, so the arrival Zhigang Yan's Da Yu / The Storm raises hopes. This one is not a heavily rotoscoped modern piece like that but a magic and mythology adventure that immediately invites comparison with a lot of the Japanese items. To add a bit more interest, director Zhigang made 2017's Dahufa, the first Chinese animated film to be self censored PG 13.

What turns up is at first an anti-climax. The manga material we see is generally faster paced, more elaborate and easier to follow. This one kicks off with painted title backgrounds which, in the manner of Chinese live action costume films, gives us a bogus historical sketch of the background. I didn't retain enough to be able to follow the ensuing action.

What is discernable is a kind of Moses fable, where peasant Daguzi retrieves Mantou, a baby found in a floating cradle, and raises it as his own child. We pick up where the kid is in a wooden helmet minus one horn which provides a convenient perch for the magic flying puff ball that accompanies him. Various picturesque factions (umbrella men, poisonous jellieel blobs, insect masked soldiers and pointy hat musketeers) are in combat. Chinese elements are discernable. There's a horse-riding girl commander who is very King Hu but the action is dominated by the big black boat which looks like a WW2 Submarine but turns out to be the transport of a spooky Chinese Opera Company, carried about on the legs of a giant mechanical spider.

The peasant falls victim of the blobs or is it the umbrella men and while the factions fight each other, the kid tries to rescue him. The cartoon figures are often familiar and the animation is less elaborate than a lot of what we see but this one does have its proper share of striking concepts and occasionally the simplified drawing catches attention - the storm as static grey clouds which flash with lightning or Mantou trying to retain his protector by standing on his shadow while he is consumed by paint dab black flames.

It left me with the impression that what we were seeing, with all its unresolved plot lines, was part one of a piece which might or might not be resolved with a further film. This one never really emerges from the shadow of Miyazaki (it's encouraging to see The Boy and the Heron is getting a long run here) whose characters are more clearly delineated and involving no matter how fantastic their activities might become. However, the imagery of The Storm is strong enough to carry the running time and leave us curious about the makers' other work and by extension the Chinese animation industry. It's another film that lifts a corner of the curtain between us and that nation's immense movie output.

This black and white two reel "experimental" short emerged from the underground films movement of the nineteen sixties, which gave it some non theatrical airing at the time.

A silent opening takes us into shots of the stage production by the Living Theatre Company along with domestic scenes, all delivered in grainy, double exposed and occasionally inverted images.

Alessandra/ Sandra Cardini had a quite extensive career as actress and costume designer in Italian feature films.

IF THE CONSCIENCE REBELS was Undistinguished in the company of the frequently outrageous and inventive offerings that shared program space with it.