Dear Basketball

It is to easy to define it as touching. but it is more. not admirable illustration of a poem, not the eulogy to a great sportsman, not exactly a fluid story in which the force of drawings are high emotional. but it is a film about each viewer. about love, passion, dreams,, hard work and force to change yourself as change of world. that fact defines it. in moving - brilliant manner. as a splendid trip across personal memories. it is not a film about basketball.maybe, not about the public of basketball show. but about meanings of life. not as pieces of succes. but as root of precious legacy. so, for me, a pure gem. extraordinary for loving simplicity. and for clear message.

I grew up as a Laker fan since the early 2000s after their 3-peat championship rings, 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-2002. I've always admired the Mamba for his greatness on and off the court. It's a shocking demise as we all are saddened by the loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. He created a legacy which is, will and forever celebrated around the globe.

Obviously you will feel identified with this, whether you are a basketball fan or not, whether you are a Kobe Bryant fan or not, it is simply a conventional short film that plays the right keys to create melancholy feelings in us, superficially speaking of inspiration, perseverance and our constant struggle to fulfill our dreams, but there really is nothing new here, we already know that old story, obviously you will love it if you are a fan of Bryant and this short will probably make you cry, but if we see more objectively It is out of level Oscar's I didn't let Kobe Bryant's sudden death just a couple of hours ago eclipse my vision of this, I saw it objectively and found nothing exceptional, if not a story of universal motivation, a message that can be expressed by any profession, a filmmaker I could do something like this and call it "Dear Cinema" is a love story for the profession, any profession.

'DEAR BASKETBALL': Four Stars (Out of Five)

A 6-minute animated short film in which NBA legend Kobe Bryant describes his love for basketball, over his entire 20-year career (dating back to his childhood), through an interview on the eve of his retirement. The short is a depiction of his poem 'Dear Basketball', and it's accompanied with music by legendary film composer John Williams. It was directed by Glen Keane and written by Bryant. I'm not a fan of basketball (or any sport for that matter), and I definitely don't look up to Kobe Bryant. The short is well made though; the animation is beautiful, and the music is of course really powerful and moving. It inspired me, even though I don't care at all for it's subject matter. That's the sign of a good film in my opinion.

Kobe Bryant's Oscar-winning animated short, "Dear Basketball," takes on added resonance with the basketball star's death today. The words of Bryant's poem, going from his childhood dreams to his retirement from the NBA, going through an arena tunnel towards the lights, of having given all that he can give, of letting go and saying goodbye, now, has a doubled meaning. It's an emotional wallop for his fans, as well as friends and family of all nine killed in the helicopter crash. Even from a more distant perspective, of one who occasionally enjoys the game and, consequently, witnessed Bryant's career, it's a touching poem and picture. None other than John Williams providing the score assists effectively in this regard, as does the animation recalling Bryant's childhood memories and focusing on him in highlights from his professional game on the court. Animating the beads of sweat is especially impressive.

Of course, one of the most remarked upon aspects when Bryant won the Oscar, when the MeToo movement was center stage on the heels of the reports regarding Harvey Weinstein, were the past allegation of rape made against Bryant and his subsequent arrest, the dropping of charges and the settlement. I never closely followed that case and don't care to discuss its details, nor its legal, moral and political ramifications, but I do think the media coverage of it and reactions from fans then, echoed again today by scale in the remembrances of his life and mourning of his death, points to how thoroughly athletes have become heroic, even legendary, figures in the eyes of many--especially children, as described by Bryant himself when he was a child dreaming of himself becoming like the heroes pictured on the posters of his wall and the videos of the games they played. Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson as the role models of his upbringing, Bryant himself as one for another generation. I don't mention this in a pejorative sense, either; arguably, it's a hopeful and healthy alternative to past valorizing of war. That kid in the room dreaming of becoming an athlete adored by others, pretending scoring buzzer-beating shots to win the big game, idolizing the new champions of their age and wanting to become that of the next generation. That kid could be anyone and is a great many children today across the world. "Dear Basketball" captures this, and it's a poignant elegy.