La Joie de vivre (1934) 2004 restoration Lobster Films

Hector Hoppin, Anthony Gross: La Joie de vivre (1934). Photo: IMDb.

LA JOIE DE VIVRE (Animat / HG Productions, F 1934)
    Dir/anim: Hector Hoppin, Anthony Gross; mus: Tibor Harsanyí; 35 mm, 250 m, 9’ (24 fps), sound, Lobster Films.
    No intertitles.
    Viewed at Teatro Zancanaro, Sacile, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (GCM): Goodnight, Silents, 10 Oct 2004

Serge Bromberg (GCM): "This legendary masterpiece of animation can be seen afresh in a new restoration from a miraculously pristine nitrate print, rediscovered in the early summer of 2004. This magical and exquisite work is contrary to all preconceptions of cartoons of the period. Two long-legged women frolic through various stylised settings, both industrial and natural, ranging from power lines, springtime fields, and a stream, to a busy railway signal house. A male cyclist chases after them, trying to return a shoe one of them has lost. An exquisite ballet of shapes and delightful rhythms, full of joie de vivre. Now little known, the film is a reference point for all specialists in animation cinema." – Serge Bromberg (GCM)

AA: A brilliant print of one of the greatest animations ever made. A ballet defying gravity, a chase where the sky is the limit, a slight narrative giving sufficient excuses for endless inventions. The elements are there: the air, the water, and the earth. We move between nature and urbanity.

The two girlfriends are also like elements themselves: of movement, grace, fun, and life. They are like birds and butterflies. Wherever they run, flowers bloom. They are like leaves flying in the wind. We remember the affinity between animation and animism. Anima is here.

There is an affinity with Douglas Fairbanks whose films we have been seeing in this festival (Double Trouble, He Comes Up Smiling).

La Joie de vivre expands the boundaries of animation with its visions of electricity, water and the train control center. The vision of multiple trains going awry is special.

The nude sequence is witty and charming, with the proper amount of abstraction.

The action sequences evoke the mystical martial arts scenes of King Hu in A Touch of Zen.