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| Sunday, May 10, 2009 12:22 AM |
| On the Viewer - The Adventures of Prince Achmed |
 by Fëanor |
The other night poppy and I, along with ST and Val, had dinner at Mizu (I had sushi and enjoyed it! Although actually I got chicken tempura rolls, which is sort of cheating) and then went to see a really cool movie at the International House called The Adventures of Prince Achmed. It was my first time in the newly renovated Ibrahim Theater, and I'm happy to report that the comfy new seats are a vast improvement over the old ones, which were easily the most uncomfortable theater seats in the entire city.
As for the movie, it's a German silent stop-motion animated film from 1926. The stop-motion animation was created via silhouettes of a series of hand-crafted paper puppets, and is incredibly impressive. The plot is a wonderful fantasy/adventure/romance based on stories out of The Arabian Nights. The young Prince Achmed, in the midst of his conflict with an evil sorcerer, ends up getting into various wacky misadventures, including a terrifying ride on a mechanical flying horse, a hilarious amorous adventure with a group of lusty maidens, love at first sight with the beautiful Pari Banu, battles with monsters and spirits, and a fortuitous meet-up with Aladdin, that dude with the lamp. Interestingly enough, although Achmed does get to do a few heroic deeds, it's actually a witch who has to fly in and take care of all of the really important stuff for him. I felt like maybe she should have ended up with the girl instead of him! Then he and Aladdin could have gotten together.
But as it is, I did really enjoy the happy ending, and all of the little stories that make up the big, over-arching story are full of magic and excitement, and are told with an artful subtlety and a wonderful economy of words and movements. The beauty and cleverness of the animation adds greatly to the magic and mystery. It's an extremely creative and fun piece of filmmaking. The International House screening was also accompanied by live music, singing, and sound effects, which I found to be really evocative and a great addition to the film. Overall a really wonderful experience! |
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