''Satiemania'' is a 1978 short animated film by
Zdenko Gašparović from
Zagreb Film animation studio. The short was created to visualize the music of
Erik Satie
Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...
[Satiemania četrdeset godina poslije]
Vijenac
Development and themes
Gašparović drew much of the movie on his kitchen table in ink, pastels and pencil. From a visual perspective, it is described as a
impressionist
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
ic "metaphor for people drifting mindlessly down the stream of life", but Gašparović states that it was partially based on the stories he had heard as a young boy. It is a series of small animated segments set to six music pieces by Erik Satie (as performed by
Aldo Ciccolini).
[A Companion to Illustration: Art and Theory, edited by Alan Male]
pp.116 One example of a whimsical approach to the creation of the short includes an issue of ''
Christian Herald
The ''Christian Herald'' was an American weekly newspaper reporting on topics relevant to Evangelical Christianity, with an emphasis on engaging with humanitarian causes at home and abroad. It was inspired by the London-based newspaper which cease ...
'' he bought at a junk store, which he subsequently included in the film as a waving flag. Other visual gags include a
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
biting off the upper half of the
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
during mid-note.
Reception and legacy
The short premiered on 23 June 1978 as part of the 3rd
Animafest Zagreb, where it was awarded Grand-prix by
June Foray in
Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall. It went on becoming a hit on other world animation festivals. It was eventually nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
.
Due to its popularity and success, it was subsequently included in courses on animation in colleges and universities.
[ ]Peter Cowie
Peter Cowie (born 24 December 1939) is a film historian and author of more than thirty books on film. In 1963 he was the founder/publisher and general editor of the annual ''International Film Guide'', a survey of worldwide film production, whi ...
described it as a "witty and irreverent portrait of the human species".International Film Guide 1981
pp. 377
The short influenced a number of other artists such as
Michaela Pavlátová
Michaela Pavlátová (born 27 February 1961) is a Czech animator, film director and teacher. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for ''Words, Words, Words'' (1991) and won the Short Film Golden Bear for ''Repete' ...
.
[
]
References
External links
*{{IMDb title, 0257098
Satiemania
on YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
1978 animated films
1978 films
Croatian animated short films
Yugoslav animated short films
Zagreb Film films
Independent animation