Over thirty artists come together to tell a disjointed, but uniquely imaginative animated short.
“In the withering gusts a wanderer – how much like Chikusai I have become!”
Based on a renku – a collaborative poem – of the same name from poet Basho (and others, naturally), Winter Days doesn’t really have a story. It’s a collection of short, two-sentence verses animated as standalone scenes. The original poem was written by Basho and fellow poets by taking the second line of the previous poet’s verse and using it as the first in theirs. This creates a strange, almost ethereal dream of a poem; a stream of consciousness that only makes sense within the context of the verse.
Other than the words of the original poem, there were no other restrictions for the artists involved, and as such Winter Days drifts without much purpose, though that’s hardly a bad thing. Keeping in line with the collaborative nature of the original poem, director Kihachiro Kawamoto employs over thirty different animators to bring each verse to life. With no other context but the two lines used they each create singular, minute-long stories and art pieces that best convey the verse they’re given. It’s an interesting project, resulting in some very literal shorts and more than a few esoteric abstract art videos.
Things could have gone pretty sour with this kind of project. It’s a relief then that behind the entire project is director Kawamoto, the then-president of the Japan Animation Foundation. And there are more than a few animation heavy hitters here, too. People familiar with animation might recognise a few names, such as Nintendo icon Yoichi Kotabe and Peppa Pig co-creator Mark Baker. This is all to say that this isn’t some fan-made amateur project, and the quality shines. Well, maybe not with the janky, early CGI.
And no doubt many will appreciate the plethora of styles on display, from stop motion, CGI, paper cut-outs and traditional paints. Combined with each artists’ unique storytelling sensibilities you end up with a film that’s not exactly cohesive (I doubt that’s even the point), but one that’s certainly interesting enough to watch through to its end. Winter Days’ never overstays its welcome either, clocking in at an easy 40-odd minutes. It never feels like it’s gone on for too long, and even if one segment doesn’t quite hit the mark, another will within a few minutes. As a piece of animation experimentation, it’s well worth checking out. For students of both animation and 17th century poetry.
Verdict: While not every scene hits as well as others, Winter Days is an imaginative, often beautiful, letter of love to one of Japan’s finest poets.
Overall entertainment: 7/10
Violence: 2/10
Sex: 3/10
Trucks: More than I expected
Times I paused to Google something in the poem: At least 5
Poetry: Can be sort of anything, I guess
Winter Days (2003)
Also known as: 冬の日, Fuyu no Hi
Japanese
Director: Kihachiro Kawamoto
Writer: Basho
The Asian Cinema Critic 