Watch At the Ends of the Earth For Free

What makes it different from others?

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

"Au bout du monde" or "At the Ends of the Earth" is a French 8-minute animated short film from 1999, so this one will have its 20th anniversary soon. This was written and directed by Konstantin Bronzit a pretty long time before his Oscar nominations. Like most of his other works, the animation style is simple enough that you would think it is a much older work. But unlike some of his other works, the story here did not impress me at all and the characters weren't interesting at all. It's about a house on top of a mountain that is so pointy on the edge that it keeps drifting left or right depending on the movement inside the house, but also outside against the house. The best example for the latter is the huge cow at the very end. Well, like I said there is no component in here that really managed to impress me at all, neither looks-wise nor story-wise. One of Bronzit's weaker efforts and I am baffled by the great deal of awards attention it got. Maybe one reason is the complete lack of spoken language, no French in here, no Russian either, so if you want to check it out, then you won't need subtitles regardless of what languages you (don't) speak. My suggestion is to skip it though.

A man and woman live on the very top of a mountain. As it's a very pointed mountain, their home balances precariously on it and rocks back and forth with every movement. Despite being a totally silly idea, it works very, very well due to the many wonderful gags that were used throughout the film. This is a very funny film from start to finish, but what actually caught my attention was the absolute perfect timing for each and every gag. Again and again, things seemed to occur at the exact right time for the biggest laugh. All this entertainment and yet the actual plot of the film is minimal! By the way, don't worry about the film being made abroad--the language they use in the film is minimal and cartoony, so it's a film anyone can watch and enjoy provided the absurdity of the plot doesn't make their head explode!!

This is just a perfect small film. The gags build seamlessly on each other as the house teeters on the tip of the mountain. The story turns like the gears of a fine swiss watch. If you see this film playing in a festival near you, GO!