is a 2007

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

Kōji Yamamura is a Japanese independent animator who, after leaving a career as a background artist at an animation studio, directs, writes, edits, animates, creates the model sheets and background art for and sometimes produces his own short films and ha ...

. The film is a direct interpretation of

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

's short story " A Country Doctor", voiced by ''

kyōgen is a form of traditional Japanese comic theater. It developed alongside '' Noh'', was performed along with ''Noh'' as an intermission of sorts between ''Noh'' acts on the same stage, and retains close links to ''Noh'' in the modern day; therefo ...

'' actors of the Shigeyama house. The film has won several awards, including the 2008 Ōfuji Noburō Award from the

Mainichi Film Concours The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...

and the 2007 Grand Prize at the

Ottawa International Animation Festival The Ottawa International Animation Festival is an annual animated film and media festival that takes place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OIAF was founded in 1975, with the first festival held from August 10 to 15 in 1976. Initially organized by ...

. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2008.

Plot

The story involves a country doctor who describes his urgent call to look after a young patient. More and more, the doctor gets involved in surreal experiences as he is transported to his patient by seemingly "unearthly horses" in a blink of an eye. While treating the patient, he fails to find the fatal wound which results in humiliation by the villagers and an endless return trip, losing everything. It tells the story of the continuous pressure on doctors, and the never-ending impossible expectations laying on their shoulders.

References

External links

* * * 2000s animated short films 2007 anime films Anime short films Films based on short fiction Films based on works by Franz Kafka Medical-themed films Shochiku films Films directed by Kōji Yamamura {{anime-film-stub