Ranked #1808

Inaka Isha

Making sense of Kafka`s work is difficult enough in its original form as prose, but trying to throw a theatrical spin on something as introspective as Country Doctor makes it even more confusing. The story starts with a distraught country doctor who`s horse has died the night before. His maid runs around town trying to borrow a horse so that the doctor might make his urgent appointment, but no one is willing. In frustration, the doctor kicks the door on his pigsty, and he finds a groom inside, and two horses as well. The groom prepares the horses but the doctor realizes he is after the maid, Rosa. Before the doctor can do anything, the groom sends the horses off, which basically teleports the doctor to the patient`s house, though it is supposed to be 10 miles away. This is but the beginning of the surreal ordeal that the doctor will endure.

In the written story, there is a progression of the surreal. It moves from being a rather normal predicament to something vaguely inexplicable, to complete nonsense draped in metaphors and symbolism. The animation though, is trippy from the start. Strange camera angles are used, and bodies are not only out of proportion, but in constantly shifting proportions. It`s not exactly how I would have imagined Country Doctor in my head, but it provides a buffer of sorts that makes some of the more surreal events and images more tolerable, less out of place, in the already surreal looking world. The animation also sticks very close to the text, making sure to visually capture all the little described details. In the longer bits of narration, it adds some unmentioned, original imagery.

In an attempt to create the same effect as the first person perspective of the story that enlightens readers on all of the doctor`s thoughts, two black, mini versions of the doctor are used to narrate. The coldness of this narration, along with a general inability of the characters to express emotions makes this film more confusing than the story, which is already painfully confusing. In the story, it explicitly states that the doctor kicks the door to his pigsty in frustration. In the animation, he just slowly walks up to the door and kicks for no apparent reason, almost as if looking inside was his intention. Similarly, lines of narration are rendered meaningless because the cynicism and bitterness of the doctor is replaced with a completely matter of fact tone.

The sounds and animation bring to the foreground a haunting atmosphere that is very subtle in the original story, and I appreciate this. A discordant clang of triangles is one piece of music the film used. Though it can hardly be called music, it is certainly creepy. Even when there`s no music, the howling winds, and the creaking of the house just gives a feeling of unease.

In the original story, with all the inexplicable insanity that occurs, the one grounding, sensible piece is the doctor himself; the piece that gives you hope of making sense of everything through the confounding events. As ambiguous as his character is in this film, even reading an interpretive analysis of the story will only provide a detached and unsatisfying understanding. It will be little more than animated gibberish without reading the short story first, but the eeriness that pervades the film does make it an interesting representation for those that have. read more

Franz Kafka's stories are known for their weirdness, and so it was inevitable that at least one would be adapted to anime, where a little bit of weird is the norm. ("The Metamorphosis" is available in graphic novel format) But I'm surprised that it's this story, of which I've never heard, was the one.

The story in "A Country Doctor" was hard to follow. Perhaps I'd understand it better if I read the story on which it's based. A lot of it is probably supposed to be metaphors for stuff. Like when one character suddenly bit another character; that's probably a metaphor for humans' cruel nature or some such thing.

The art may seem really odd for an anime. Characters are depicted with body parts growing larger, and instead of walking, swinging across the screen weirdly. (It's hard to describe this in words... you'll understand it when you see it.) For this kind of "psychological" anime, it seems an appropriate style of art. It probably also represents the inconsistent ways in which reality is perceived.

The sound is outstanding! Just, no other comment than that.

Since it's only a twenty-minute film, the characters don't have much time to develop. Worth noting is that when the main character, the doctor, is thinking, two black, childlike figures appear behind him and speak the inner dialogue. It's a strange effect which probably represents the duality of something or other.

I enjoyed this a fair bit, just to watch and see what the hell happened next, and seeing if I could find any hidden meanings in it.

Overall, though, it has a pretty weak story. I recommend watching this if you're bored, if you're a Kafka fan, or if you're taking a class in philosophy, psychology, cinematography, or one of those classes where you have to find the hidden meaning in shit. read more