Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Steineded How sad is this?

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

sashank_kini-1 Atama Yama is a Japanese short that takes not more than ten minutes to confuse the f*** out of the viewer. It talks about a stingy person who believes in saving everything he gets, and gulps down cherry seeds out of fallen cherries. A tree grows on his head, and is taken over by epicurean small/large men and women during spring, because of which he pulls out the tree. This creates a hole, into which water collects and people come for swimming, and so he blows his top. After this, he decides to look into the hole and the cycle repeats about ten times, each time the man getting smaller and smaller perhaps and then he dies.I think this is based on some Japanese fork lore and if it is, I surely haven't read it. As a short, it is very confusing as I didn't get the fundamental idea of the film. I think the ending denotes that the greed consumes the old man, but what about the cherry tree in spring, all the people and the water. I am still racking my brains but there's no answer popping up.The animation is authentic and traditional and I liked the sing-song way of narrating the story. But this is too abstract and needs some clues. The same thing happened to me after watching La Dolce Vita, which though is beautiful once you come to know the symbolisms, but is hard to decipher otherwise unless you can read the artist's mind or are going through similar times. I can state the same for Atama Yama. I hope at least stingy men can make something out of this short and learn a lesson otherwise this film would serve no purpose to its audience.My rating: 5/10

Polaris_DiB I enjoy shorts like this, especially ones from different cultures, because they can basically go anywhere. I have to say I had no idea where this was going, and even after watching it twice I don't really see how the actions and situations related to the theme of "a stingy man." However, it's still visually very beautiful, and the storytelling style is very appealing.I think I wouldn't have minded hearing this short performed on a live stage or the like, with my own imagination to fill in the imagery. However, the imagery itself is what makes me enjoy this particular short so much, because stuff like the infinitum and the POV shot of eating cherries seemed so incredibly natural to the storytelling style, an organic extension of an already fun and silly story.--PolarisDiB

rooprect Here's a feast for the eyes that will give you indigestion. Once in a while a work of art will come along that is so appealing to the senses, yet its theme is flawed. Let's talk about the flaws first.The story attempts to tell a moral tale of greed and its hazards; however it fails to distinguish between "greed" and "economy". The protagonist of the story is an economical man; he saves everything; he finds value in other people's trash; he recycles things that everyone else throws away. He despises waste and tries to find a use for everything. I equate this to the Native American Indian who kills an animal and finds a use for every last bone & sinew. Or, perhaps less noble but equally economical: the dumpster diver.The fable then focuses on the greedy; those who rape & ravage for their selfish and wasteful purposes. I would equate this to the modern American hunter who kills a deer, takes the tender meat and dumps the majority of the carcass on the side of the road (try driving through Montana, and you'll see what I mean).This film fails to make the important distinction between the two. Both the former and the latter are lumped into the same category. And as a result, the central theme is invalid.The protagonist's only flaw (the act for which he is punished) occurs in the very beginning when he gathers cherries from the sidewalk and eats them. Not wishing to waste the seeds, he eats them too. Folks, is this "greed"? Far from it. But apparently the writer thinks it is. Apparently the writer feels that we should waste fallen cherries and instead go buy them at the supermarket. And we should trash everything but the savory part. I wonder how the writer would feel about recycling aluminum, paper and plastic.OK, that's the philosophical critique. Now on to the artistic. From the opening scenes this blew me away. The style is unlike any other animation I've seen. The artist/director paid close attention to perspective, perception and visual angles. The result is that the viewer is truly drawn into this cartoon world as if it were reality. There's nothing bubble-gummy about this. You feel like you're standing right inside the room with the man (and often you are placed within the eyes of the man himself).The music (traditional Japanese) is quite good, but you must have a taste for this "weird" sort of stuff. Be prepared to hear the narrator sing his lines with thick tenor vibrato whilst accompanied by a twangy instrument that sounds something like a banjo with 3 strings. Personally I loved it.I am extremely impressed with the artistic side, but that only intensifies my disgust at the rather vapid and undevelopped theme underneath it. As a result I must average my artistic rating (10 stars) with my thematic rating (4 stars) and give it an overall 7.Watch it if you get a chance. Then post back whether you agree or disagree with what I've said here.

SamLowry81 I freely admit that I don't think I truly grasp it quite yet, but that does not prevent me from absolutely loving this piece. Contrary to some previous reviews, I absolutely love the sound effects. I thought the audio pitch when it switches to POV shots really envelope the viewer into the picture, particularly noting the cherry eating scene. The animation is stylistically rough, avoiding solid fills, but complements it's rough construction with soft pastel-like strokes. The deep earthy palette reinforces the connection between the man and nature. Don't expect a conventional animated piece (I.E. vibrant colors, hard edges, and a conspicuous theme). I absolutely loved it and would highly recommend it to any animation buffs or lovers of the unconventional film.