Road to prohibition
2017 · 3m · España
Directed by Javier Murciano
Genres: animation, comedy, crime
Tones: darkly comic, theatrical, whimsical
City of Prohibition, the 1920s. The authorities strive in the streets to requisition and destroy all the illegal liquor consumed by the idle citizenry, but they will soon discover that gangsters and bandits will not miss the opportunity to do business from the underground, in an adventure to a jazz rhythm with period cars, irreverent chases and hidden taverns.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A 1920s Prohibition romp that could've been a paint-by-numbers gangster pastiche, except Murciano treats the whole thing like a fever dream—all theatrical excess and jazz-drunk choreography where the chases feel less like plot and more like permission structures for absurdity. It's the kind of premise that sounds conventional until you actually watch the anarchic, whimsical thing move.
The animation channels a specific lineage—UPA's graphic economy meets the theatrical compositions of classic crime comedies—with considered staging that respects both the period and the satirical distance the form demands; the editing rhythms sync deliberately with the jazz score rather than chase it.
What elevates this from period-piece dressing is the decision to animate the crowd scenes with almost pointillist density while keeping the main action stark and bold—that single contrast between background chaos and foreground clarity makes the whole thing feel lived-in on a three-minute budget.