De Profundis - From the Sea (2007) avi

From the Sea

Spain l 2007 l 75min l Feature Animation l Miguelanxo Prado



Once upon a time there was a house in the middle of the sea, a house where a woman plays her cello. She is in love with an artist who longs to be a sailor, an artist who becomes a fisherman and then vanishes into the crashing waves of the sea. The man opens his eyes to see the mesmerizing motion of fish traveling to the accompaniment of the woman’s cello and realizes that this amazing world is the very beauty he tried to capture in his paintings. Miguelanxo Prado, one of the most influential comic book authors in Spain since the early 1980s, has developed his stunning art to transcend the genre limitations of comic books into inventive illustrations and paintings. In his very first animation, Prado creates an unforgettable harmony of story and images. Scenes are soaked with opulent colors, completed from countless drawings and paintings done by the director, while the sweeping orchestral score by the composer Nani Garcia plays a leading role in the film that goes far beyond merely supporting the visuals. The magical "under the sea" fusion of lavish images and a lush orchestra -- with various sounds from seagulls, sharks and others -- renders this wordless 70 minute image-poem one of the most exquisite audio-visual experiences ever.