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The House of Small Cubes (S)

Tsumiki no ie (La maison en petits cubes)

2008

Kunio Katô

Animation

7.8

15,074

Animation. Drama. Romance As his town is flooded by water, an aged widower is forced to add additional levels onto his home with bricks (cubes) in order to stay dry. But when he accidentally drops his favorite smoking pipe into the lower submerged levels of his home, his search for the pipe eventually makes him relive scenes from his eventful life. (FILMAFFINITY)

	Author	Review
United States	Amy Biancolli Houston Chronicle	"It’s barely 12 minutes long, but I’ve never seen a better, richer evocation of memory’s fathomless depths."	POS
United States	A. O. Scott The New York Times	"A haunting, painterly meditation on climate change and the passage of time."	POS
United States	Andrew Lapin The Michigan Daily	"Every frame of this exquisite Japanese film could be sold as a watercolor painting. The concept is engrossing, if melancholy: An old man lives alone in a flooded village, and he must constantly add new floors onto his house to survive above the rising tide. As he scuba dives through his submerged home, he recounts happy memories of his family from years gone by."	POS
United States	Walter Addiego SFGATE	"The best animated offering is a Japanese film with a French title, "La Maison en Petits Cubes" (12 minutes), a dreamlike, resonant tale of an old man who has to keep building additions atop his house to remain above the rising tide."	POS
United States	Geoff Berkshire Chicago Tribune	"A slow paced but increasingly poignant portrait of a man flashing back on his life after his village in France is flooded. It's the odd one out in terms of pacing and visuals, with its delicate hand drawn style, but the short's sweet sentimental surprises leave a lasting impression."	POS
United States	Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle	" The only Oscar-nominated short that failed to capture my imagination."	NEG

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