Franz Kafka's Ein Landarzt (A Country Doctor)

Year of release: 2007
Director: Koji Yamamura
Genre: Drama/Psychological
Duration: 21 min
Language: Japanese (English subtitles)

When someone mentions animation or anime that is related to Japan it usually means big eyed moe girls with high pitched voices that are 18 but look like 9. This is sadly true, most anime are like that because the audience demands this and the production houses deliver that in order to make money. But not all is everything like that. Since their animation culture flourishes a lot there are still plenty of astonishing visual experiences.

This particular anime is - unique. Forget everything you ever saw from Japan because this one is completely different and completely surreal. Perfectly fit for a Kafkas story. The motion of characters, the background drawings, the eerie sounds of nature they all blend into this marvelous work so much that I could not believe what I'm watching. So memorable yet so morbid and scary.

I'll stop my drooling here. In any case this is an adaptation of a short prose by Kafka called Ein Landarzt which translates to "A Country Doctor". The story is about an a hapless country doctor that was called by the night bell emergency to visit a young patient. Events soon take on a surreal aspect as "unearthly horses" transport him instantaneously to the bedside. The doctor, preoccupied with personal distractions and grievances against those he is employed to care for, fails to find what is revealed to be a vile, fatal wound. He is humiliated by the villagers, who are "always expecting the impossible from the doctor," and doomed to an endless return trip, losing everything.

Highly recommended!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4