In a small town a boy's father is the most important man because he can fix anything and keep it working. The only one who can fix one of his father's foul moods though, is the boy's mother, who is lively and starts every day with a dance. It always worked and all was good until a stranger came to town a musician, who had lots of musician friends. On that day, everything would change in the town.
As I have come to expect from Blackwatch, this short film is stylishly animation and built round an unusual and imaginative story. Delivered with a perfectly pitched brooding narrator, we are told the story of a child, starting from before his birth. The tone of the film recalled the western genre to me with its small town air, looming mystery and of course the train. The story fits this approach perfectly and it is engaging, ending with a conclusion that is both open and satisfying at the same time.
The animation is hard to describe because I'm not sure what it is. What it appears to be is knitted puppets with animated mouths etc, animated against a background drawn on corrugated cardboard see I told you I wasn't sure what it was. Regardless of how it was done, it works. As is often the case with this stable, the animation is imaginative and works very well looking expensive and professional but yet having a real heart behind it that I don't always find with the perfect visuals of Pixar-quality animation.
Overall then an engaging and imaginative short animation. It is typical Blackwatch and those who have read other reviews of mine will know that that is solid praise.
