The Hand – Jiri Trnka (1965)

The Hand– Jiri Trnka (1965)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS4Th36zN_g 

http://vimeo.com/42689371



This animation again takes the form of stop motion but with a moveable puppet-like character.
The character is met by a giant hand, which seems to be an actual human hand among the animation set.
The hand follows the character and tries to make him do what he wants by enticing him in various ways. The hand is eventually able to trick the character into having strings placed around him limbs so that he does in fact become a puppet for the hand to control.
In the end the character does manage to escape and return home, only for the hand to appear again through the forth wall, and place him into his wardrobe, but in a way that makes it look like a coffin at a funeral.

There seems to be a lot of symbolism within this animation, especially of that of power of higher positions and forces.

Although the character's expression is the same throughout the animation, the audience is able to connect and sympathise with him, as his emotions are often portrayed through the music.

There is some musical accompaniment in this animation, but unlike a lot of others seen so far it does not continue the whole way through the animation, only at certain moments to add to the mood and atmosphere of some scenes.

I really liked this animation; I thought the use of the human hand with the animated puppet-character was really clever, and was able to tell a story with emotion and suspense, which I wasn't expecting.