MovieChat Forums > Allegro non troppo (1977) Discussion > Sibelius ' 'Valse Triste' aka 'Feline Fa...

Sibelius ' 'Valse Triste' aka 'Feline Fantasies'

posted 17 years ago by maxeythecat
9 replies | jump to latest

Hands down my favorite part of the film and probably one of the most beautiful pieces of animation ever created. Just the sheer emotional depth that Bozzetto expresses as you watch this poor, grief stricken cat exploring the bombed out remains of his former home surpasses even some of the best live action films out there. Just seeing the hope and joy shining in it's eyes as he remembers what life was like when his family was there only to realize that all that he loved is gone forever is enough to crack the toughtest of nuts.....hell, I defy ANYONE to sit thru this piece without shedding a tear or two. As for me, I can't even get thru the first two minutes without breaking down and bawling like a baby...supposedly created from his memories of WWII, Bozzetto conveys the lonliness, the sorrow and devastation that refugees must have felt when they finally returned home and saw nothing was left of their former lives....nothing but death and ashes and the heartbreaking memories of what once was. I tell ya, if this had been released as a short on it's own, it would've clinched the Oscar for that category

[–] Prof_Lostiswitz 16 years ago

If you like this, you should try Tale of Tales (Yuri Norstein, 1979). It has a similar atmosphere - you can find it on the Masters of Russian Animation set, try any big library.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] benz-12 16 years ago

I feel the same! A masterpiece!

[–] morgana-31 16 years ago

Yeah, I'm with you on that. It always causes me to shed a tear or few as well. It is so beautifully done.

Love is never having to say you're sober.

[–] Erotophonophilliac 16 years ago

It's not that the cat is grief stricken, it's that it's so lost. Only screen moment EVER to make me weepy. Like goddam emotional kryptonite.

[–] VIsraWratS 16 years ago

I hear you guys. The Feline Fantasies portion of this film is probably my all time favorite piece of animation. It's very touching and very well put together. I really enjoyed the part where they placed live action scenes within the animation. Very well done.

[–] crselvz 15 years ago

Unquestionably one the most haunting and affecting works of art in any medium... The "Valse" itself surely tops any roster of Classical Blues, right alongside Grieg's 'The Death of Ase' from "Peer Gynt" or the great adagios of Albinoni or Barber. This animation ( 'cartoon' is utterly inadequate a term ) is on a par with Andersen's tale "The Little Match Girl" or Bradbury's short story "There Will Come Soft Rains..." ( I mention these two stories because I have since found the Sibelius 'Sad Waltz' to fit them also, as soundtracks for the imagination ). Packs as powerful a punch as Picasso's "Guernica" as a depiction of desolation ( the painting being a frenzied freeze-frame; the animation, a lingering and tremulous elegy of aftermath. ) Viewed without music, it would be unbearably traumatic; paired with the Sibelius, it approaches sublimity. Even having read Roger Ebert's review before seeing the movie, it still blindsided me. And it flatly refuses to be forgotten.
Watch it with someone to hold in your arms ( or, preferably, to hold YOU ). If you prefer to keep your feelings to yourself, then by all means watch it alone...but I shan't be held responsible for your feelings afterwards...

[–] thereseuphemiaabernathy 14 years ago

Yes..yes..yes..it couldn't be put any better than it's been here...that segment KILLED me. But it is sheer brilliance.

Makes it all the worse if you can really relate to that poor, poor cat/spirit in some way...longing for a time and a place that are no more, for beings that exist only as memories...;_;

[–] anubis-45 8 years ago

Makes it all the worse if you can really relate to that poor, poor cat/spirit in some way...longing for a time and a place that are no more, for beings that exist only as memories...;_;

Amen to that!

I love Sibelius, and I also happen to love felines, so this particular sequence was - and still is - especially moving for me.

(Each time I watch Allegro non Troppo, I tell myself that I am NOT gonna cry over this heartwrencher, but I always do.........)😢

A masterpiece, indeed!

The Opener of the Way is waiting....