Malaria

feel slightly embarrassed . I watched this short animated film by Edson Oda and while watching I was 100 per cent convinced I was watching a Russian language film . Yeah I know it might seem strange that the Western genre might have been popular in Eastern Europe but let's not forget Sergio Leone was a regarded and known film maker in the Soviet Union . His films did contain a Marxist subtext and Leone spent many years trying to develop his life work a tribute to the battle of Leningrad , a film that eventually came to nothing on the director's death

Death is at the centre of MALARIA and revolves around the ancient human legend that Death comes to people in a physical human form . The story is told by a series of story boards being turned and moved on a table . Nice to know Bob has a problem trying to explain this technique because while watching this I knew I'd have the exact same problem coming here . To be honest I did find the story within a concept somewhat distracting and thought the film might have worked better if it was just a straight animation short because the animation is very good even if it's a bit static . I'm guessing that is the reason why it's a cartoon within a film ?

That said the story is very involving and contains a great premise. A mercenary is hired to kill death for 30 pieces of gold and the arguments put forward are very intelligent . Who wants to live forever ? Bad enough an individual can live forever but multiply this by a few billion and geometrically multiply that by a few billion more and you can see the problem in killing death and that death is a great benefit to humanity . Also having a mercenary getting paid 30 pieces of gold alludes to Judas and Christianity so the story has some appeal to both secularists and Christians alike

My summary is a joke. Yes, the film is Brazilian and involves two cowboys (one of which is the Grim Reaper)--but it is far from being familiar! Its novelty is the big reason why I really liked this film and it's a must-see for lovers of animation and short films.

There are no live actors in this film--other than the hands of the man placing the drawings on the screen (which you can see). The film is a dialog between a mercenary who has been paid to kill Death--not the sort of thing you see every day!

The plot really isn't THE star of the film--the star is the style. It consists of tons and tons of drawings--well done drawings. But how they create a sense of animation to the drawings--THAT is creative and exciting.

I could try to say more about the film but frankly it's really one you just see for yourself...

In a bar in the old west, a young man sits down opposite an older man; the air carries tension as the two talk and soon it becomes apparent that one of the men is Death and that the other, Fabiano, has come to challenge and defeat him.

Going by the plot summary this is an old story delivered in the genre style of the western, so we know what we are getting and indeed we do get that. The tone of the film is tough, with manly dialogue, sawdust on the floor and sudden violence eventually coming from the constant threat of it. It works as such but it is an old idea and the idea of one of them being Death doesn't change that too much. However although the end result is familiar, the manner of the telling really gives the whole thing spark and, as a result, makes the story quite gripping.

It is hard to describe but this short is told in a series of comic-book style stills. The transition between them is done manually by the animator so we see their hands in the frame as they sit at an old style table. Speech bubbles are in Portuguese (with subtitles) and although they are read by the two actors, they are on the pictures and small flaps are held open by a knife to reveal them in the right order. It is better to see it for yourself but it is very cleverly done – when a character reads a book, a book is put on the table and opened to reveal a still picture of the inside of the character's book, things like this. The pictures are really well drawn and deliver the genre feel and tone effectively – with close ups of eyes, guns etc, essentially the images are those which you may see in a detailed story board of a film scene, so it does play like a film.

It is a great short film; the story works well enough to recommend it, but the ideas and creativity in delivering it are really refreshing and engaging making it memorable and enjoyable.