I Granchi

"Krabi" by Václav Mergl, is a very odd little short film. It's so odd that there's really no way for me to convey to you adequately what the film is like--you have to see it for yourself! It is done using what appear to be cut out pictures that are animated frame by frame.

The story is told without words. It begins with a helicopter with a skull and crossbones on it landing on an island. A guy who looks kind of like Freud and Ed Sullivan combined leaves and begins running a bizarre experiment. He releases a crab-like robot that eats metal and excretes parts--which it uses to build new robots. These new robots then begin doing the same. Soon, however, newer types of larger and more lethal robots are created and begin destroying each other. It all appears to be a heavy-handed metaphor for war and the arms race. What happens next, you'll just have to see it.

I didn't particularly love the story but the animation sure intrigued me with this one. Worth seeing.