#apel

Can I offer you a nice apel in this trying time?

apel

They may not be great fighters, but it's their spirit that counts! Whether they're shooting missiles, launching apples, firing light beams, or just trying to eat you; you know that they have passion for murder that comes unmatched! Galexia 2, Apel, Cathode, and Pb-207

Pohon apel cebol ini berhasil menumbuhkan apel hampir setengah ukurannya.

Ryszard Czekała (1941-2010) was one of the forerunners of late 60s Polish animation. Czekała used his animation to explore themes usually reserved for documentaries and “feature films.” The short film here, Apel (The Roll-Call), was made in 1971 and explores the experience of prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp.  “The animation shows a gripping sequence of events taking place during one of the roll-calls at the camp. The overture to the images shown in The Roll-Call is the headline of the film. The illuminated letters of the title sneak through the film’s frames like a train running on rails, carrying people who have not yet recognised how cruel their destination is. In the background, you can hear the rattle and creaking of the rails, followed by the squeal of brakes. The headlines appearing successively are accompanied by tearing screams of people, groans, dog barking, a terrible tumult. These are the dramatic noises from the ramp to the camp that the train reaches. After a while, everything quietly disappears and you can only hear the regular sound of soldiers’ boots marching. A sea of shaved human heads emerges from dense, dark frames. A group of prisoners dressed in striped uniforms with dead, almost petrified faces is waiting in suspense for the SS officer’s command. The darkness is illuminated only by the narrow glow of the lantern, allowing only a few human silhouettes to be seen more clearly. Finally, the Nazi shouts: ‘nieder!’ and then ‘auf’ – the cruel monotony of the words ‘fall’, ‘rise’ sets the film’s rhythm and builds its dramaturgy. The repeatedly shouted commands force the prisoners to keep falling and rising. In various perspectives and shots, the camera shows rows of striped uniforms and heads, creating powerful shots through which all the atrocity and horror of the dehumanised Nazi camps speak. When one of the prisoners courageously resists the SS officer’s cruelty, he gets shot. His example, however, gives strength to others who, in silence, rise up in rows, showing their tired faces and looking boldly into the rifle barrels, as if it was a testimony to the Nazi crime. For this moment of heroic rebellion, courage and freedom regained for one, extraordinary moment, they pay the highest price. Only one prisoner survives the burst of the machine guns, but the film’s final shot leaves no doubt about his fate. The prisoners’ rebellion, however, will allow them to save their dignity in these inhumane conditions and to maintain at least a modicum of freedom. In the camp, this is only possible at the price of death.” (Source) Not exactly uplifting viewing material but worth a moment of your time. Think of it as a mood piece that addresses a topic that wouldn’t be found in the medium of animation at the time.