Reci, reci, reci...

I am an avid animation fan, but this left me cold. I am grading it on its uniqueness and visual creativity. However, I never got any real feel for a direction. I assume it is to represent how people interact verbally, but what are those things?

While interesting in style, RECI, RECI, RECI is probably not a film that will appeal to anyone other than die-hard animation buffs. There isn't so much a story as a weird way of showing what people are saying by using cut out words. The animation style is unique but not especially pleasant. There are sound effects and sounds (such as people saying 'aahh') but no dialog--just what is in writing.

Frankly, I don't get it. After watching it, I still didn't see much of a point and it seemed less a cartoon short and more of an unsuccessful experiment. However, the Oscar people were impressed and nominated it for Best Animated Short. However, the category was otherwise well represented that year and RECI, RECI, RECI didn't stand a prayer. I just found it to be strange and quite unpleasant.

Call me a die-hard animation buff, but this is a hilarious look at how people communicate. Michaela Pavlátová takes out the words of a crowd of people in a café and replaces them with pictures and symbols. Her drawings are so spot on in terms of how people really communicate, the giant elephant is a horrible scandal, the dominoes of the getting-to-know you game, the juggling balls of someone trying to be entertaining. This is how a visual person sees talk. And it's all done very, very funny.

It definitely deserves the awards. The animation style is a bit crude but the social dynamics and reflection of life are spot on.