SSF: “The Herbalist”

This one has a gorgeous “painterly” style, even if it’s a bit on the dark side, story-wise. Reminds me of the great Frédéric Back’s “The Man Who Planted Trees,” in some ways. Except way more pessimistic. (Also, you need to watch through the credits, because the reference to the past in the short’s description won’t make any sense otherwise.)

A man, in the twilight of his life, is enjoying the sunset. The balance shifts when what he spent his life running away from catches him.

As a special bonus, tons and tons of pre-production/production/post-production sketches and videos are available. …though being a French speaker-or-reader would probably help. (I say “probably” because I’m neither. And I don’t entirely trust Google Translate. Is “herbalist” the same thing as “l’herboriste,” for example? I have no idea.)

For additional deep background, check out the website of Denis Duchesnay, one of the short’s directors. There are some particularly neat hand-drawn pre-production sketches there that make me think I’d have liked to see a more “traditional” version instead of this CGI one. Though the “painterly” flavor I mentioned before really captured my attention, so maybe I should just say “a traditional, hand-drawn version as well.”)

Attribution(s): All artwork, publicity images, and stills are the property of all respective creators and/or distributors.