Les escargots

A struggling farmer discovers that his tears make his lettuces grow massive. Sadly this also applies to the snails who feed on the crop. They soon set off and terrorise a city causing widespread destruction.

It's a very basic and silly story-line. It's really only there to allow for some memorable images. It's an early bit of work from Fantastic Planet creator René Laloux. Like others from the director it's has one foot firmly in the surrealist camp. It also reminded me quite a bit of the kind of animation that Terry Gilliam would go on to be famous for in Monty Python. It seems to be influenced partially by sci-fi schlock movies where over-sized creatures run rampant terrorising the local population. But more than anything this is a comedy. It's even occasionally quite funny with scenes of the farmer devising way to ensure he keeps on crying, he wanders his fields reading Hamlet and later with a device that hammers him repeatedly on the head. It's overall too short and slight to make too much of an impression but it's a fun film nevertheless.

Having seen Fantastic planet as part of a course on animation, which was a weirdly enjoyable film, I found this little gem on MUBI, well it found me.

The story is simple as is the style of animation - 2D cutout, made prominent by Terry Gilliam during the Monty Python days.

This is a fantastical tale, in which a simple premise - a struggling farmer uses his own tears to make his crop of lettuce grow, but they grew too well and attract snails, which eat the lettuce and also grow to enormous size. The giant snails then start terrorising the humans, all very funny.

While somewhat sexist by today's cult standards, with the depiction of woman and how the giant snails target them, there are social commentaries in play here that are not overtly thrust upon the viewer.

Well worth a look.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I love this short! It's a spoof of kaiju eiga with giant SNAILS! No, really! They wreck cars, destroy buildings, and even chase people! Honestly, you'd think a person could outrun a snail, even one the size of a Sherman tank! It's hilarious!!!

An old man tries to grow crops on a strange planet. He has no success, even though he waters them. Frustrated, he begins to cry and his tears cause the plants to grow to enormous size. However, at night, snails begin to invade his crops and they grow to an enormous size and begin to attack the planet's inhabitants. Even though they are slow moving it seems they can't be outrun (remember the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes). It's s silly little plot with unique animation in a sort of Monty Python style.

A strange short piece - I watched this because I like René Laloux's Fantastic Planet a lot. If you like strange and odd things and got the chance put this 10 minute running piece on your screen, you won't regret it, or at least won't lose much time.