The Arctic Circle

Brutal and unforgiving – the Arctic Circle – where all that grows in abundance is….temptation. A man out working for the small amount of fruit his labor will return in this desolate land, finds just this in the shape of a box that appears, seemingly offering him more than he needs.

This is a very simple story and as a narrative it is very much a sense of a slightly satisfied "huh" at the end because it does deliver a start/middle/end but perhaps this is not the strongest aspect of the film. The delivery makes it work though, through a combination of efforts. The first is that the film does not have dialogue but instead uses title cards to describe the action just like silent films used to do. This is a nice device and I liked the feel it gave the short. The most important part of the delivery is the animation, which is stop motion. In this regard the film is both simple and attractive – the simple set of the Arctic environment works well and you buy into it from the feel.

The animation of the main character is particularly good – not only is his movement fluid, but the degree of expression in his face (particularly the eyes) is impressive, he opens them wide, narrows them, all while moving in some cases and it must have taken an age and a lot of attention to detail to get that to work as well as it does. Ultimately the plot sees it be a curio of a tale that works for what it is but no more, but it is very well animated and delivered, making for an enjoyable few minutes.

The old man get up every day and turns a crank. It results in a piece of fruit which allows him to survive. One day, an orange box appears and when he touches it, it gives him the power to make a tree produce a great deal of fruit. But there is a kicker. It is a lesson about greed, but one can also sympathize with the old fellow.

The simplicity is the basic trait of this short animation. a simple story about a discover and shades of greed. and about the Arctic Circle from original perspective. the second good point - the stop motion as technique for say the story. not the last - the character, remembering a sort of Pai Mei. and, sure, the inspired end. short, a nice film.