Histoire d'un poisson rouge

This excellent short shows a simple story about a boy from a Japanese family living in Paris. The first thing you notice is that the boy is not treated very well by their mates. But the film has surprises because it intends to show you that everybody prejudges. The boy buys a golden fish (aka The Golden Fish, an Oscar winner 1959)and takes it home, throws it into a bowl and leaves. Later on, a cat comes into the house, you believe it will eat the fish, and there you are wrong, because the cat not only fails to eat the fish but saves its life. I think what film director Edmond Sechant wanted to say is that everybody prejudges. Before anything happens you assume that the cat is the villain of the story. I know it may be a little naive but when you see it you feel good, it makes you feel good. I think this film tries to say more than a simple story about a golden fish, it is dealing with racism and any kind of prejudices. Well, at least this is the way I understand it. Of course I may be wrong. I own a copy of this film on Super 8 which is part of my collection (I don't sell it) but if you are interested you can try searching it on the Internet. You only need to dust your old Super 8 Projector. Good hunt. Oscar.

I saW this film while at Birmingham Southern College in 1975, when it was shown in combination with the Red Balloon. Both films are similar in their dream-like quality. The bulk of the film entails a fish swimming happily in his bowl while his new owner, a little boy, is away at school. A cat enters the room where the fish and his bowl are, and begins to warily stalk his "prey." The boy begins his walk home from school, and the viewer wonders whether he will arrive in time to save his fish friend. The fish becomes agitated by the cat's presence, and finally jumps out of the bowl! The cat quickly walks over to the fish, gently picks him up with his paws, and returns him to his bowl. The boy returns happily to his fish, none the wiser.

The ending is amazing in both its irony and its technical complexity. It is hard to imagine how the director could've pulled the technical feat back in 1959 -- it seems more a trick for 2003.

If you can find it, watch it -- you won't be disappointed! And if you *do* find it, let me know so I can get a copy, too!

This Academy Award winning short film can rank among the greatest of the genre. Told completely without dialogue, it is a visual treat about a young boy who buys a gold fish, lovingly places him in a bowl then goes off to school, leaving the gold fish unprotected and a window carelessly open. After a while, a neighboring orange tabby comes poking around, comes in through the window and heads slowly for the bowl. The fish apparently knows something is going on and becomes very excited. As the cat comes very near to the bowl, the fish jumps out. The cat catches the fish, drops him back in the bowl and exits through the window he came in just as the boy, not knowing what has happened, gets back. This was amazingly filmed with real animals; how Cousteau got these animals to behave in this manner is remarkable. I only wish this film were available now for people to see; I only saw it once, in 1959 when it was originally released, but it has remained unforgettable.

"The Golden Fish" is a French film by Edmond Séchan that is, at best, very ordinary...but which somehow won the Oscar for Best Short Film. Perhaps it was a very off year for the category...all I know is that the film never really impressed me one way or the other.

It's told almost completely without words and is a brief snippet from some kid's life. He goes to the fair, he wins a goldfish, takes it home and bad things happen. The part about the cat was telegraphed many times...to the point where it seemed heavy-handed. The music sounded very 'muddy'...hopefully if you do see it you'll find a better quality print. Overall, worth seeing to see what was Oscar-worthy back in the day but otherwise a film that is very easy to skip.

I remember seeing this in a the Salem movie theater (where I used to attend "Kiddie Matinée"s almost every Saturday) in Dayton, Ohio when I was a young boy and have never forgotten it. It simply amazed me and my friends. I do wish there were some way I could see it again! I have tried to find some compilation of shorts or something like that to no avail. I only recently discovered that it was a Cousteau film and that blew my mind even more. How the heck he accomplished this is beyond my understanding. The fish is ACTUALLY IN THE CAT'S MOUTH at one point, if I remember correctly! If anyone could help me find a way to see it again I would be extremely grateful!