Nightangel (1987) Online

Beautiful animation on the realist side. Dramatic music well chosen. When a man becomes blind, his life is all turned around. He can only use his touch to get around in his house. The objects become enemies. But an angel is looking over him. The angel helps him in many ways. Strong feelings at the end of this great short film.

Out of 100, I gave it 87. That's good for ***½ out of ****.

Seen in Sudbury, on December 31st, 2002.

Another reviewer tried to describe the techniques used in this film.

Nightangel is available on DVD from the National Film Board of Canada on a compilation of Jacques Drouin's works. Also featured on the disc is a short documentary that shows the filming of the seminal "Le Paysagiste" that uses the pin board technique in a superlative way.

The Pin board is a frame by frame animation technique in which hundreds of thousands in tiny nails or pins are planted into holes and pushed in or pulled out in order to create a shadowed image.

Bretislave Pojar served an apprenticeship with the great Czech animator Jiri Trnka before emigrating to Canada and becoming one of the great NFB animation artists.

Nightangel is a meeting of the great 3d puppet animation of Pojar and the pinboard animation of Drouin.

I am not often the fan of "artsy fartsy" films, but I loved this wonderful animated film. Instead of a typical story, it's almost like a poem come to life--gorgeous and touching in a haunting way.

Before I try to explain the story, let's talk about the art. This film uses several different methods to tell the tale. The characters are stop-motion animated and appear to be made from wax or perhaps some sort of plastic. While they are not the most realistic creations I've seen, they are more than adequate and rather reminiscent of some of the work of fellow Czech, Jirí Trnka. However, what is amazing are the sets and backgrounds. The sets are very, very nice. But the backgrounds--wow! They appear to have perhaps been created using an oil paint on glass technique and look almost like an Impressionist painting come to life. The colors and style are just amazing and serve to create a haunting backdrop for the story.

The film begins with a man looking outside late at night. He sees some sort of angelic woman with a billowy robe or perhaps wings. He's obviously quite taken with the sight of her and leaves his apartment. Sadly, however as he crosses the road to catch her, he's hit by a car. While not killed, he is temporarily blinded and is briefly hospitalized. When he returns, he tries to take care of himself but is frustrated and ultimately terrified...when suddenly, this angelic creature appears to him--calming him and caring for him. There is more to this sweet film than this and it's both romantic and creative. I won't say more, as I don't want to spoil it, but I must say that I really, really got sucked into the story.

It's really amazing what great artists with a real vision can do even without using any words. While not a single word is spoken, it manages to be artful and like a living poem Great stuff that is a must-see for anyone, like me, who loves independent animated films.