Man on the Chair
2014 · 7m · South Korea
Directed by Jeong Dahee
Genres: animation, experimental
Tones: contemplative
A man on a chair is tormented by doubt about his own existence — if he creates images, might he himself be merely an image? A recursive philosophical loop in hybrid animation.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A Beckett-grade recursive loop about whether an animated character can even exist — Annecy's Cristal agrees, and I hate agreeing with prizes, but here we are.
Jeong Dahee's animated character questioning whether he is animated — Cannes Directors' Fortnight + Annecy Cristal winner — collapses the fourth wall as the entire philosophical argument. Beckett by way of Norstein; properly thought, properly drawn.
Cannes Directors' Fortnight 2014 plus Annecy's Cristal — an animated man questioning whether he's animated is a tight recursive loop that Jeong Dahee earns with the hybrid technique. Seven minutes of Beckettian formal honesty.
Festivals
- Cannes Film Festival 2014
- Annecy 2014, Cristal for Short Film