Já fólkið

Gísli Darri Halldórsson's and Arnar Gunnarsson's Academy Award-nominated "Já-Fólkið" ("Yes-People" in English) shows the typical situations that people have to put up with in day-to-day life. This is the sort of cartoon that shows that a cartoon doesn't need fancy animation, just a good story. I've never been to Iceland, so I don't know how much it relates to their culture, but I recommend it.

Another seemingly inexplicable Oscar nominee--in this case for Best Animated Short Film. This is the same institution that didn't nominate "Duck Amuck" (1953), so the Academy has never known what they're doing. Not that the Icelandic "Yes-People" is bad per say--it just seems rather pointless. One woman in it is reading Proust, so maybe there's a deep meaning residing under the surface here that I'm not privy to. Something about saying "Yes" supposedly communicating a lot, perhaps. The habituality or banality of life--at least of these ugly animated apartment dwellers? I don't know. Find your own meaning.

For me and at the risk of failing the Rorschach test, I'm wondering about that snow shovel, and the pipe, too. They're phallic objects, and the guy shoveling snow and blowing smoke and his Proust-reading wife are the only two in the building having sex. "Yes, yes, yes," you see. The short ends with her in underwear enthusiastically presenting his shovel as it snows again. If I draw out the symbolism to the snow, come to think of it, this is pretty perverted.

For all practical purposes, this is a slice of life story in an apartment building. People go about their business, but the animation, the great human creations, make it quite remarkable. They are just doing their things from shoveling snow, working at the office, fending off boredom, overeating, drinking secretly, doing homework, practicing an instrument, on and on. And another day is on its way and, being human, the dance begins again.

Everything about this film is wonderful. You do not need subtitles not any kind. I loved the animation and narrative style. It tells a fascinating story about life in Iceland.

A wise use of so familiar cliches. Couples, a mother and his son/ his student, work, school, house work , boring moments and refuges , loneliness and ...yes with many nuances. Ironic and touching, precise in each detail and beautiful for the fair way to discover details from ordinary lives in the honest light.