Watch Neighbours For Free

You won't be disappointed!

Thanks for the memories!

Sorry, this movie sucks

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

I have to say I don't mind Norman McLaren getting an Academy Award. I am generally not too big on his movies and that includes this one here, but he is sort of considered a legend in animation from the 20th century, so it's fine with me. That does not change, however, the way I perceived this short film here. It is in color, runs for 8 minutes and not only won the Academy Award, but was nominated in another category as well, something that is not possible today anymore, at least not for short movies. The entire film is about two men fighting for a flower which grows in their garden. First, the dispute is verbally, then it gets physical and in the end it is lethal. The story is too absurd for my taste already, which hurt my perception of this film and I felt that it dragged occasionally. Then again, this is the point as the actions by the two men are not human at all, but basically all special effects. One of the two was Grant Munro, a famous animation filmmaker himself and still alive in his 90s today. This short film from almost 65 years ago did not do a lot for me. Only worth a watch for those who want to see all short film winners from the Oscars. Everybody else is not missing much, even if this is maybe the most famous short film from the legendary NFB.

In January 2007 I went to London expressly to attend part of a two-month long Luis Bunuel retrospective held at the National Film Theatre where I caught up with all but one of the remainder of his films. During that same period, a concurrent season of movies featuring Humphrey Bogart (on the 50th anniversary of his death) and Lauren Bacall and another one dedicated to Canadian animator Norman McLaren were also held. Although I am a fan of Animation in general, I was a bit wary of McLaren's work falling in the abstract branch of it but had always been interested in checking it out regardless since the late British film critic Leslie Halliwell deemed his best-known piece BEGONE DULL CARE (1949) worthy of his full **** rating. While the latter was indeed one of several shorts I managed to catch during that one particular evening, I cannot say I was sufficiently impressed to follow it up on my own time, as it were. Still, learning that 3 more films of his were nominated for the Best Short Subject Academy Award, I decided it was high time to reacquaint myself with McLaren's oeuvre given my ongoing Oscar marathon.The 8-minute short under review is the only one of the three to emerge victorious and deservedly so; bafflingly, this won in the Best Documentary Short category while also being nominated for Best Short Subject. The simple plot deals with two neighbors who spend a lazy afternoon basking in the sun and reclining on a chair reading newspapers in front of their respective house but, tellingly, the headlines of one newspaper is completely belied by the other's. Suddenly a flower spurts out from a seed sown right beneath their feet and, after their initial mutual admiration for it, each one lets greed get the better of him and both start claiming it as their own private property. This sets off a battle of wills that soon turns increasingly physical, irrationally violent and ultimately fatal for all three parties; the scene where one erects a barricade between the two houses enclosing the flower on his side of the fence while the other relocates the latter to his advantage or having the flower use its petals to, as it were, take cover from its battling masters adds a nice touch of Surrealism.However, the film's real coup comes at the end when, having trampled on the flower during their struggle, both men are overtaken by a feverish bloodlust that sees them enter each other's home and murder the occupants (a wife and a baby in both cases) through vicious kicking or throwing about! By this time, the violent men have adopted Indian warpaint on their faces and, when they eventually expire, the once-important white fence is transformed into crosses on each respective grave that have been dug where the houses used to stand. With time, more flowers bloom both on the graves themselves and on the earth surrounding them. The end titles, then, is an animated collage of the phrase "Love Thy Neighbor" in various languages. Although the film was originally issued sporting a monotone electronic score by McLaren himself (also available on "You Tube"), I elected to watch it accompanied by a score (recorded in 2010) by an obscure outfit named Versa that very effectively counterpoints the on screen action.

If it wasn't for a brief mention made by François Truffaut about Norman McLaren on his book "Les Films de Ma vie" ("The Movies of My Life"), an recollection of his writing when he was critic, chances were high that I would be an ignorant who never seen the great works made by McLaren. Lucky me this didn't happened since "Neighbours" is one of the greatest short films ever made. Seriously!In its eight minutes and with a simplicity that knows no boundaries (as explicitly shown at the ending with titles that urge us to "Love Thy Neighbours" in several languages), the movie is about two happy neighbors, the one from the left and the one from the right, living their lives in fulfillment since everything one has the other has as well. Everything's cool up until a flower appear in the property line between both houses which starts an heated, somewhat comic, horrendous fight between both to see who gets the flower. A funny beginning of discussion with humored solutions that becomes quite tragic (but so funny to look at it, except for a strange moment when the fight gets personal and a baby gets kicked far away). This was shot in pixilation, an stop-motion animation with actors that is amazingly well-made and greatly edited (the first thing that came to my mind while watching it was Talking Heads clip Road to Nowhere). It's so cute, so simple yet it hides a more than an innocent message behind all those charming moments. This was released in 1952 and what was going on at that time that seems to reflect this movie? The war on Korea, conflict between neighbors and with some intervention from the U.S. Can I be more explicit than this? To me, this film is impactant just like Scorsese's "The Big Shave", they say more than what we see. One cannot watch something without taking in consideration the period the artist lived. It's all connected, it's all there. That's what art is all about. Well-deserved Oscar for Norman and thank you Mr. Truffaut for presenting me this genius. 10/10

norman mclaren's neighbours is a masterpiece of animation- it entertains, educates, and satirizes, all at once.the plot of the film is simple, and predictable: two neighbours are fighting over a flower, which seems to fall directly between their two properties. naturally, the two fight over the flower until both they and the flower are destroyed.however, underneath that simple plot, there lies a strong anti-war message. it points out that war does not allow for winners, only losers; and it reminds us that we've been known to forget why, exactly, we're fighting each other, killing each other, as well as each other's families.the battle is shown with live-action/stop-go animation- which allows the effects of the flower on the two men to be exagarrated easily. this suits the film well, giving a serious topic a little light-heartedness.an interesting side-note- the soundtrack was not recorded, but rather hand-painted (by mclaren himself) onto the soundtrack. this gives the soundtrack a boxy, nintendo-like quality.in my mind, this film could sit easily with modern anti-war classics; never too preachy, never too simple.truly enjoyable.