The Violinist

This short, most accurately titled, was released the year I was born. About a man who plays the violin with great enthusiasm, if with limited ability. Charming and engaging, with a good story and dialogue to go along with a limited animation style. Ernest Pintoff had a light touch with comedy and made some very delightful shorts in the late 1950s and early 1960s. I wish he'd done more of them. Well worth tracking down. Most recommended.

"Harry" is a regular fellow who is competent enough on the violin. His neighbours are all long tired of his playing, though - even the bus driver hates it! That's not fair - he's not that bad! Then he meets "Felix" - a small dog who does actually likes his playing and tries too encourage "Harry" to play with some sense of feeling and warmth. He's technically sound but it's just lacking that je ne sais quoi! He decides to find a coach and so alights on the renowned "Andreas Fillinger" to try and impart some clues as to how he can impassion his playing, but that doesn't work either. Frustrated, he stops eating, drinking, even shaving and then, on the very verge of despair, he picks up his instrument and... Thing is, his appearance and his smell are now just as off-putting as his music used to be. A no-win scenario so he might as well be, well, himself! The animation is basic, but quickly paced and I'll confess that I couldn't tell the difference between the emotional and the emotionless music! Maybe the best thing is just to play your way, to be yourself - and hang the other folks! That appears to the moral here, anyway.

This is another enjoyable Oscar-nominated cartoon (watched via a washed-out, Italian-subtitled print on "You Tube"), from the animator who would 'strike' gold with THE CRITIC (1963; which I watched the previous day). Again, it is voiced by a notable personality i.e. Carl Reiner – but the hero of this one is the antithesis of the later effort's unseen protagonist: rather than a misanthrope, the violinist is eager-to-please… and, yet, he still alienates his potential audience by strumming only dissonant notes! He is constantly flanked by a dog, though it more readily bites and ridicules him than give the expected support! The man feels so bad about all this that he visits a Teutonic shrink, who puts forth to him that old adage that one has to literally suffer for his art in order to succeed; so he does, neglecting both his sustenance and appearance in the process! This results in him being able to play with feeling at long last…but his desired fame still eludes him, because people cannot then stand his "ugly" look!

Harry is a violinist but everyone thinks he is terrible (he's actually quite decent). He is so maligned, a teacher says he needs to suffer. So he does, but the result aren't what he expected. This looks rather primitive but it is interesting and unique.

The Violinist is a great film. It makes you break out laughing out loud. It has revealing aspects of how to deal with creativity. It illustrates the elements of Henry Miller either becoming a successful author or dying. If anyone reading this has any influence on creating a DVD of this film please use it.