Merlin242 Reviews

The Storyteller (1987–1989)

Stories for grown up children..

[1 January 2006]

I remember watching this show as a kid. It made quite an impression on me, to be honest I was absolutely spellbound.

Quite recently I obtained a DVD-release and was somewhat amazed: It was just as good as I remembered it! This is not simply a bad case of nostalgia, this show is definitely something above the ordinary. We might have struck gold here..

The show is in nine stand alone episodes based on nine old folktales. (Mostly Russian or German) Not so "kidified" as most recent versions, just a little bit cruel, but always with a happy ending (with 2 exceptions)

The special effects (especially the creature effects ) still look really good even in this time of photo-realistic computer animation. If you take into account that this is a TV-production from 1987 the effects are absolutely outstanding! They give a much more living impression than many computer generated creatures I have seen of late.

The actor performances are maybe not always of academy award winning standard.. but I can live with that, and most probably so can you. Not all nine episodes are masterpieces either, but some come very close to being just that. "The Soldier and Death" is in my opinion one of the best and appears to be the first choice of most other reviewers. "Sapsorrow" (their version of Cinderella) is also worth mentioning. Maybe not for it's greatness but for the most enjoyable Disney reference. Very amusing.

When this was aired it had the added title: "Stories for grown up children" and that is a good description of what this is. Maybe not for the very youngest but perfect for anyone else. Especially anyone interested in folktales or anything fantasy-like.

Highly recommended.

Grandma and Her Ghosts (1998)

Not brilliant, but very nice.

[6/10 · 20 March 2005]

This is an anime for children. It is the story about the little boy Doudou and his summer with his strange grandma.

Doudou's father is a construction worker who has went away to work on a big building project abroad. However he has become badly injured and Doudou's mother must go and see to him. Doudou must stay with his grandmother during summer while his mother travels to see her husband. She is afraid how the sensitive boy Doudou will react so she decides not to tell him. This however just makes things worse thou he can not understand why he must stay with his creepy grandma all summer long. Because in grandma's house strange things happen. Grandma has the 'second sight' and often attends funerals to help the lost souls over to the other side. But grandma's power also attracts bad creatures and demons. One tries to trick Doudou to sell him grandma's soul. He agrees but later changes his mind, but it might just be to late..

This is a nice story, but maybe sometimes a little slow. The animation is far from brilliant. Despite it's flaws it is a story with a lot of heart, and I liked it in a lot of ways. It is seldom you see a story for children that deals with matters of life, death and afterlife in this way. I'd rather have my children watch this than a lot of other bad anime.

Not brilliant, but very nice. If you get the chance to get a hold of it you should take it if you have children. (or if you collect anime)

Whose Is This Song? (2003)

How can a song stir up so much hate?

[25 March 2004]

This documentary made me somewhat sad.

It is about a woman who one night with her friends hear a song at a local pub in Bulgaria. They all recognize it, but they can't agree on where it comes from. So, she sets out on a long trip witch take her to Greece, Turkey, Bosnia and back to Bulgaria. She soon discovers that the song is found all over the region.

All claim the song to be theirs. When she tries to convince the people she meets that it is well spread and shared she meets anger and disbelief. She almost gets herself beaten up in a restaurant in Yugoslavia for playing it with "the wrong" lyrics.

At the beginning she thought the melody would unite people, that it would make them see that all the ethnic groups share a legacy. But instead she finds people blinded with hate passed down though generations. The merciless and pointless hatred among different ethnical groups in Balkan becomes very clear in this film.

Who should see this documentary then? Well, anyone interested in Balkan. Anyone who lives or have family in any of these countries.

If you hope there will ever be any real peace in the region.. well, maybe you should not see it.