Árie Prérie (The Song of the Prairie)

Director: Jiří Trnka
Release Date: 1949
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:

With ‘The Song of the prairie’ Trnka’s both made a parody of and a homage to the classic Western.

The film uses all the cliches of the genre: a stagecoach, masked bandits, a damsel in distress, a hero with a white hat, a villain fancying the girl, and a climax on a cliff.

Trnka’s animation has much improved since ‘The Emperor’s Nightingale‘: the cinematography is excellent, and particularly the illusion of speed is astonishing. The film is wonderfully tongue-in-cheek and full of brilliant silent comedy, showing Trnka’s then unsurpassed mastery in stop-motion. ‘The Song of the Prairie’ is one of Trnka’s most enjoyable films, and deserves a more classic status.

Watch ‘The Song of the Prairie’ yourself and tell me what you think:

http://www.totalshortfilms.com/ver/pelicula/122