Ah, L'Amour

This film is so good it should be shown to small school children. Don clearly understands the mystery of love well. I saw this online and sent it to everyone I know. I would like to have it put in the Library of Congress. Shown in theaters like the THX sound check . Relationships are soul stealing ordeals that are best left hidden but Ah Lamour is brilliant. It's funny but the minimum number of lines for a comment is ten here on IMDb . That means I have to write almost more lines that the length of this film. Weighin in at around a couple minutes Ah Lamour is a power packed mini movie. After seeing it you will give up dating, sex and having children. If bitterness is your fuel I highly recommend Ah Lamour. For stick figures the animation is actually quite brilliant. See it.

Ah, the beauty of love. Ah, the splendor of its glory. Ah, the agony of rejection. TOTAL agony, that is!

This timeless favourite of the Spike and Mike Sick and Twisted Animation Festival follows the adventure of our hapless male who receives brutal beatings from women when he tries to innocently ask them out. Brutal, as in having his head bashed in, his eyes driven in by stakes, or his heart ripped out. Yes, a love story! Sick and simple, much like "Billy's Balloon".

Best way to view: in a large group with the men reading the male lines and the women reading the female lines. Note how most women cheer at our hero's demise. Hmm, makes one wonder! Available on Spike and Mike video collections.

Though not on the level of insane brilliancy as with Don Hertzfeldt's most recent (within the last several year), Ah L'Amour displays the beginning of the Hertzfeldt logic, only this time in a somewhat more innocent form. In several vignettes we see the act of rejection from women in its most base forms, no matter what is asked there is a violent, murderous reaction with "I just want my space", or "No means no you bastard" preceding it. Hertzfeldt also crumples up the paper and starts all over again with each new try, and its sort of heartfelt in its most utterly crude way. It's like a dash of hopelessness given the finest touch, however not yet totally honed to a point, of dark whimsy. The absurdity of Hertzfeldt is there too, though as a "bitter film" by the director it actually ends much more on that note than with everything else. Oh, and a special thanks to a friend- caffeine!

There is no question as to Don Hertzfeldt's angle here. He has probably experienced much of what is in this film. It is certainly male prejudice but it is still captivating. A spirited young man goes up to women. One he asks for a date. Another he compliments on her shoes. It doesn't matter what he says, the women take delight in destroying him in the most malicious ways. The conclusion sort of wraps it all up in a bow.

Before 'Genre', before 'Billy's Balloon' and before 'Rejected' animator Don Hertzfeldt delivered his first twisted and disturbing animated short film. 'Ah, L'Amour' tells the story of a guy who keeps getting rejected by the girls he wants to ask out. Actually, they reject him even before he asks them out. The girls reject him not with words alone, they literally cut him to pieces.

As disturbing as the shorts I mentioned above, it is also as funny from time to time. I must admit there are less laughs than in the later work, but to start with a short like this is pretty good. If you can appreciate the disturbing kind of humor this is definitely an animation you want to see.