Reviews Taiwanese Reviews

Animation Short Review: Long Land (2017) by Huang Liang-hsin

A sense of longing

Hand-drawn animation is not exactly the rule nowadays, particularly outside of Japan. Nevertheless, decided to shoot his 5+ minute short in this way, in a rather miminalist approach that is still quite artful.

” is screening at Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival

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The story takes mostly place in a small island connected by a long and narrow lane to the main land, where a lightkeeper is living alone, tending the lighthouse. His life is repetitive, but this does not seem to bother him, until at least the festival comes. Gradually, a sense of longing starts to create in his heart, with his solitude finally getting the best of him. As he looks at the birds flying and the kites on the sky, his urge to become one of them and fly away becomes rather palpable. Unfortunately, he cannot leave his post.

When some people on boat crashland on his lighthouse during a stormy night, the keeper finally finds some company, even managing to have a drink with them after he saves them. Soon, however, they also leave, and his sense of longing has just another memory added, intensifying it even more.

Huang Liang-hsin directs a short where nostalgia, longing, and intense sadness seem to derive from every frame, despie the utter lack of dialogue here. The drawing is simple and minimalist, as much as the animation, but the combination with music intensifies the aforementioned sentiments, with Huang implementing it in ideal fashion. The use of color also follows the same rules, while the fact that all objects and locations, apart from the lighthouse, are drawn as if they are far away adds even more to the overall aesthetics. The mixture of all these elements also emits a certain “frenchness” which works quite well for the film’s aesthetics.

“Long Land” is a simple but beautiful film that will not disappoint any viewer willing to spend a few minutes watching it.

About the author

Panos Kotzathanasis

Panagiotis (Panos) Kotzathanasis is a film critic and reviewer, specialized in Asian Cinema. He is the owner and administrator of Asian Movie Pulse, one of the biggest portals dealing with Asian cinema. He is a frequent writer in Hancinema, Taste of Cinema, and his texts can be found in a number of other publications including SIRP in Estonia, Film.sk in Slovakia, Asian Dialogue in the UK, Cinefil in Japan and Filmbuff in India.

Since 2019, he cooperates with Thessaloniki Cinematheque in Greece, curating various tributes to Asian cinema. He has participated, with video recordings and text, on a number of Asian movie releases, for Spectrum, Dekanalog and Error 4444. He has taken part as an expert on the Erasmus+ program, “Asian Cinema Education”, on the Asian Cinema Education International Journalism and Film Criticism Course.

Apart from a member of FIPRESCI and the Greek Cinema Critics Association, he is also a member of NETPAC, the Hellenic Film Academy and the Online Film Critics Association.

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