L'antilope d'or

I think this is the animated film I saw on TV when I was merely seven or eight years old. I recall it being quite quiet in its depiction of a young boy on a quest (to find something, no doubt) who is aided by a magic antelope. It was on 50s TV of course, so it seemed to be black and white to me, and to have a roughly "silhouette" style of simple flat forms. But - as vague as this recall is - I DO remember that I was utterly enchanted by it. It seems to me it was presented over the course of several weekends, and that I couldn't wait for it to continue. I remember the boy riding on the antelope's back as they sped over the countryside, and (I believe) the antelope eventually undergoes a transformation. I wish I had more information. I wonder if it still exists as a film. So many have vanished.

My wife and I found this as a bonus "short" on a DVD devoted to Lev Atamanov's acclaimed "The Snow Queen", a film which is said to have inspired Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki ("Spirited Away", "My Neighbour Totoro" et. al.) with a desire to work in animation. "Golden Antelope" is a highly imaginative 35-minute work, in vivid colour, which is well worth seeing in its own right.

A young village boy in the Indian Jungle protects the magic antelope (a gentle creature who drops golden coins as she runs) from the pursuit of a wicked, greedy rajah and his henchmen, refusing to reveal her whereabouts even when threatened with death. Aided by a cavalcade of beautifully animated tigers, elephants, bears and monkeys, the boy tracks the antelope to her forest home. Eventually he faces down the powerful but sensually depraved rajah: "you may kill me if you like, but you do not understand the value of friendship and loyalty".

The moral may be slight, but the artistic power of this short masterpiece is anything but. Atamatov's fluid animated style captures the grace, variety and subtlety of the movement of his cast, human and animal; the jungle backgrounds are sumptuous; the musical score recalls the oriental splendours of Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin; and there is great humour as well as drama in this lovely example of the Russian animated tradition.

Consider Soyuzmultfilm the quintessential studio when it comes to Russian/Soviet animation, and one of the best when it comes to animation in general when getting into their work while my tastes in animation was continuing to broaden. And for Russian films and shorts. Have seen most of their output and have really liked to loved all seen, have recently re-started my completest quest in seeing their output and have yet to see anything bad from them.

'The Golden Antelope' is one of Lev Atamannov's best known animations, the most familiar to me being 'The Snow Queen' (followed closely by 'The Scarlet Flower') and again to me that film is his masterpiece and had a big influence on the likes of Hayau Miyazaki. And it is not hard to see why 'The Golden Antelope' is one of his best know. Also think that 'The Golden Antelope' is one of his best as well, a near-masterpiece and almost one of the best examples of Russian/Soviet animation.

It is a little bit of a slow starter to begin with, with it taking a touch too long to set up, but it does very quickly get better and everything else is superb.

Particularly striking is the animation. Especially the landscapes and the backgrounds, which are nothing short of incredible. The fluid, expressive movements for the characters also impress, as do the quite stunning but suitably subtle use of colour. The music never comes over as bombastic or too constant, instead it is used with restraint and elegance with lush orchestration in a way that's distinctively Russian and this is meant in a good way. Being a huge fan of Russian music.

From start to finish, 'The Golden Antelope' is written with much sincerity and charm, with some nice amusing gentle humour that never feels too much. The story is engaging throughout, slow start aside, and very charming in its quietness and simplicity. It never feels too slight and the moral doesn't preach, while the central relationship is touchingly and sensitively handled with two characters well worth rooting for. The voice work never sounded too theatrical.

Overall, a near-masterpiece. 9/10