Blood tea and red string. Stopmotion animation is hard to come by these days. what's even harder to come by is a dark fairy tale told using stop motion. luckily we have blood tea and red string. Which does just that. I was lucky enough to see this film at Montreal's Fantasia Festival. A great festival, but one that could always use more animation. Stylisticly Blood tea could be compared to Jan Svankmajer's Alice. But it has some very dark and somewhat scary points. It could easily give any kid nightmares. Chistiane Cegavske is a very gifted animator and the world she creates is a memorable tale of aristocratic white mice, skull flowers, widow spiders, blood, tea and red string.
28 Reviews
An acquired taste
whatsupwabbaloo3 June 2017
"Blood Tea and Red String" is the latest watch in my line of obscure animated films I wanted to see. I gotta say for all the talk of this thing being a horror movie, it really only delivers on that in the imagery. The story, while darker than most childhood fairy tales, doesn't revolve around the macabre. It is a Gothic, haunting movie but not really what I'd call horror.
As for the film itself, I liked it. Would watch again if I had the chance, though it's not necessarily a re-watchable kind of flick. It is an art-house film - through and through. While this is the kind of art-house stuff I can get behind (or at least, you know, is actually entertaining and thought provoking instead of pretentious or dull), art movies are something you have to be in the mood for.
As for the film itself, I liked it. Would watch again if I had the chance, though it's not necessarily a re-watchable kind of flick. It is an art-house film - through and through. While this is the kind of art-house stuff I can get behind (or at least, you know, is actually entertaining and thought provoking instead of pretentious or dull), art movies are something you have to be in the mood for.
Homemade stop-motion effort with plenty of imagination
Leofwine_draca4 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING is an interesting little amateur animation effort told through the medium of stop motion animation. The central characters are all small mammals and the setting is a woodland backdrop. The crude animation looks like it comes from the 1960s but I found that quite charming being a fan of all things retro. Watching it throughout you're reminded of something like THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, but BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING ups the interest further with the inclusion of some dark and gruesome moments that are linked to paganism. It's offbeat and homemade, but in a good way for once.
Delirious macabre. Film-making for the end of the world.
oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx21 March 2007
It's hard to describe the delirium of watching this movie, you get to see three albino mice in Elizabethan costumes playing gin rummy with blank cards whilst sipping blood tea. The clanking of porcelain cups and ticking of the clock makes for a frenzied enough soundtrack to push this reviewer over the edge all by itself. There is also a spider in this movie with the head of a Mrs Danvers who calmly mummifies the hummingbirds she catches in her web with red string. Another of the menagerie is a crow with a skeleton head. This is theatre of the macabre par excellence, and certainly would not suit all viewers.
There is a sense of messianism and deep longing in the white mice towards the doll of their affection which I found actually quite touching. This sense of the mystic is not to be found in similar stop motion features like Jan Svankmajer's Alice. I sometimes wonder if we, like the mice in the movie are simply child-like in our existence, fumbling for meaning, victims of an experience that we cannot possibly understand in the round.
The sense of composition in this work is so exquisite. Of course with a film that is almost a solo effort by Cegavske, and which took over a decade to complete, one would not expect anything else. But the devotion does shine through. You could take so many frames from this movie and hang them on the wall.
There is a sense of messianism and deep longing in the white mice towards the doll of their affection which I found actually quite touching. This sense of the mystic is not to be found in similar stop motion features like Jan Svankmajer's Alice. I sometimes wonder if we, like the mice in the movie are simply child-like in our existence, fumbling for meaning, victims of an experience that we cannot possibly understand in the round.
The sense of composition in this work is so exquisite. Of course with a film that is almost a solo effort by Cegavske, and which took over a decade to complete, one would not expect anything else. But the devotion does shine through. You could take so many frames from this movie and hang them on the wall.
Alice's Rosencrantz
tedg25 December 2006
I saw this on Christmas Day and was rather thankful. 2006 has been a bad year for movies and at the end of each year I start to put together my additions to my short list of films everyone should watch before they die (if they want to be lucid in a film life).
Only two per year are allowed and I had none for 2006. I may put this on the list of what I call "Fours."
Its a short film that seems excruciatingly long. Its a flaw that I think starts to work for the thing after it has stopped working against it. The reason is a matter of pacing. Usually, we look to cinematic storytelling to be economical, like say it is in dreams. Something is shown only as it adds value, nothing is shown for mere completeness. We'd wonder about a filmmaker that shows us every act of the detective driving to an interview: opening and closing car doors, turning the key, fastening seat belt and so on.
In this movie, the filmmaker apparently hasn't mastered the notion of economy. If you have three mice and each is to eat three worms, prepare to see nine worms roasted, grabbed, chewed and swallowed. If you have three mice rescued from carnivorous plants, you'll have to see the entire rescue in detail three times. I suppose if you spend a month for a minute of film (what this works out to) you would be reluctant to cut. So your first impression is likely to be that there is no imposed rhythm, that the thing plods.
But it works for it, I think in an unintended way. The early Herzog had a trick: he would shift in and out of documentary mode with his camera. When in that mode, he would act like a newsman discovering and documenting something real. The camera would catch what it could and linger wherever it happened regardless of narrative necessity. It had the effect of making what we saw real. And of course it was: we saw a crazy man in a South American jungle doing crazy things that we knew were really done as we saw them.
But Herzog in those same films would insert formal shots. Stylized poses and action that reminded starkly that what we are seeing is something staged, artificial. Moving between these two modes is one of the most effective cinematic devices in the book, and that's what we have here. Some shots are so stylized, they're clichés: beings on a quest silhouetted by a setting sun. It works.
We also have what I call folding, tricks to place us in the thing. The story is a bunch of dolls placed to evoke emotional memories in us, and the story has them (those very dolls) obsessed with a doll. Also, if you know the history of fantasy well, you'll immediately recognize that this in an inverse Alice in Wonderland, instead of Alice imagining animals, they imagine her. More: there's a wonderful teaparty, card game which has many enticing elements, the one of note here is that they play with cards that have no faces. Later, the "story" is drawn on those faces.
Finally, we have a framing device. The story features an egg that appears down a stream, is placed in the doll, hatches and things happen. It is framed by the living doll pouring tea, placing an egg in the teapot (which in the story will come floating down a stream). At the end of the story, an object in a pouch is placed in the same stream by the mice and it appears in our living doll's teacup. A bit dear but clear.
And all of this before we get to the actual images. They are extremely effective. Absolutely, breathtakingly engaging. They are original, and sharp because of it. No, there's no Quay or Svankmejer in this. No, it's not dark in any respect. I've said before that to make interesting films you have to be an interesting person. Encountering this makes me think there is an interesting person in this woman, someone worth knowing, though I suspect unless you fully enter her world she will not touch you.
Back to the film, when you watch it, notice how she handles the psychedelic sequence. Its a well known problem in film: how do you show something that is by definition unshowable? How do you use vision to bend vision, the actual process of cognition? What she's done here is gentle, not wild. But it is effective and original. Barriers rather than colored lights. William Morris intercessions.
A final note. The sound. Its sparse, sharpedged, economical in ways the visuals aren't. An amazingly effective compliment.
It may be that this is an unrepeatable event, that we may not get another special thing from this woman. Or it may take too long, but let's hope not. In any case, she's in my life in a small way now, and may find her way into yours if you experience this.
Ted's Evaluation -- 4 of 3: Every cineliterate person should experience this.
Only two per year are allowed and I had none for 2006. I may put this on the list of what I call "Fours."
Its a short film that seems excruciatingly long. Its a flaw that I think starts to work for the thing after it has stopped working against it. The reason is a matter of pacing. Usually, we look to cinematic storytelling to be economical, like say it is in dreams. Something is shown only as it adds value, nothing is shown for mere completeness. We'd wonder about a filmmaker that shows us every act of the detective driving to an interview: opening and closing car doors, turning the key, fastening seat belt and so on.
In this movie, the filmmaker apparently hasn't mastered the notion of economy. If you have three mice and each is to eat three worms, prepare to see nine worms roasted, grabbed, chewed and swallowed. If you have three mice rescued from carnivorous plants, you'll have to see the entire rescue in detail three times. I suppose if you spend a month for a minute of film (what this works out to) you would be reluctant to cut. So your first impression is likely to be that there is no imposed rhythm, that the thing plods.
But it works for it, I think in an unintended way. The early Herzog had a trick: he would shift in and out of documentary mode with his camera. When in that mode, he would act like a newsman discovering and documenting something real. The camera would catch what it could and linger wherever it happened regardless of narrative necessity. It had the effect of making what we saw real. And of course it was: we saw a crazy man in a South American jungle doing crazy things that we knew were really done as we saw them.
But Herzog in those same films would insert formal shots. Stylized poses and action that reminded starkly that what we are seeing is something staged, artificial. Moving between these two modes is one of the most effective cinematic devices in the book, and that's what we have here. Some shots are so stylized, they're clichés: beings on a quest silhouetted by a setting sun. It works.
We also have what I call folding, tricks to place us in the thing. The story is a bunch of dolls placed to evoke emotional memories in us, and the story has them (those very dolls) obsessed with a doll. Also, if you know the history of fantasy well, you'll immediately recognize that this in an inverse Alice in Wonderland, instead of Alice imagining animals, they imagine her. More: there's a wonderful teaparty, card game which has many enticing elements, the one of note here is that they play with cards that have no faces. Later, the "story" is drawn on those faces.
Finally, we have a framing device. The story features an egg that appears down a stream, is placed in the doll, hatches and things happen. It is framed by the living doll pouring tea, placing an egg in the teapot (which in the story will come floating down a stream). At the end of the story, an object in a pouch is placed in the same stream by the mice and it appears in our living doll's teacup. A bit dear but clear.
And all of this before we get to the actual images. They are extremely effective. Absolutely, breathtakingly engaging. They are original, and sharp because of it. No, there's no Quay or Svankmejer in this. No, it's not dark in any respect. I've said before that to make interesting films you have to be an interesting person. Encountering this makes me think there is an interesting person in this woman, someone worth knowing, though I suspect unless you fully enter her world she will not touch you.
Back to the film, when you watch it, notice how she handles the psychedelic sequence. Its a well known problem in film: how do you show something that is by definition unshowable? How do you use vision to bend vision, the actual process of cognition? What she's done here is gentle, not wild. But it is effective and original. Barriers rather than colored lights. William Morris intercessions.
A final note. The sound. Its sparse, sharpedged, economical in ways the visuals aren't. An amazingly effective compliment.
It may be that this is an unrepeatable event, that we may not get another special thing from this woman. Or it may take too long, but let's hope not. In any case, she's in my life in a small way now, and may find her way into yours if you experience this.
Ted's Evaluation -- 4 of 3: Every cineliterate person should experience this.
Nightmarish, in a good way
Jeremy_Urquhart20 July 2023
This is a super unsettling movie, and got to me in a way where I started wondering whether I'd seen it as a child, 20-something years ago, and had repressed any memories of it up until this point. But then I saw it was from 2006, and so if I had seen it, it would've likely been something I'd remembered.
I didn't like that feeling of being weirdly nostalgic and also overwhelmed by dread at the same time, but for eliciting such a response, I think this animated film's a success? It's slow and not always captivating after a while, but the style is cool and the animation/making-of is impressive, once you know it apparently took 13 years in total to make.
I didn't like that feeling of being weirdly nostalgic and also overwhelmed by dread at the same time, but for eliciting such a response, I think this animated film's a success? It's slow and not always captivating after a while, but the style is cool and the animation/making-of is impressive, once you know it apparently took 13 years in total to make.
An art film by its own rights
apsulute6 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Je prie de différer mon ami...
Mrs. Cegavske clearly states in her commentary that she does not choose to *tell us* what her symbolism means! Thus leaving us to discover our own meaning... such is art. And this is at its core an art film via the medium of Stop Motion Animation.
She clearly had a demonstrable mastery over the personalities of her creatures, living and breathing life into them over the decade of animating their world. Some may lack even a soft focus to take it in whole-cloth... such is the curse of the soft machine in its unrefined state.
As far as comparing her work via other artistic films, this is a magnum opus that few modern Americans seem capable of anymore. I think M. Barney's Cremaster Cycle is of a similar scope although altogether a different beast. I think the CGI herd of consumer product tie-in driven pabulum can't hold a candle to this class of animated art. No fast food toys are promoting this feature!
I hope her next two films will come out in a shorter time frame while holding level with, if not building on, her obvious talents.
One thing I note is that she is a solo female filmmaker while most of the prior stop motion we have seen comes from the imaginations of men... an obvious point of departure and perspective in this film. Not since Lotte Reiniger's cut-outs have we seen this level of work on the silver screen from a female artist.
*Minor spoiler* For me the scene depicting the cats-cradle showcases how extraordinary this woman's technical skills are and in addition to the gravity defying scenes created by ONE set of hands! Mark Growden deserves his due in cross-defining the films tempo and tempest with his soundtrack.
This film takes its rightful place among true art-films, amazing but marginalized, particularly within the American marketplace choked blue by our cultural moneychangers!
Mrs. Cegavske clearly states in her commentary that she does not choose to *tell us* what her symbolism means! Thus leaving us to discover our own meaning... such is art. And this is at its core an art film via the medium of Stop Motion Animation.
She clearly had a demonstrable mastery over the personalities of her creatures, living and breathing life into them over the decade of animating their world. Some may lack even a soft focus to take it in whole-cloth... such is the curse of the soft machine in its unrefined state.
As far as comparing her work via other artistic films, this is a magnum opus that few modern Americans seem capable of anymore. I think M. Barney's Cremaster Cycle is of a similar scope although altogether a different beast. I think the CGI herd of consumer product tie-in driven pabulum can't hold a candle to this class of animated art. No fast food toys are promoting this feature!
I hope her next two films will come out in a shorter time frame while holding level with, if not building on, her obvious talents.
One thing I note is that she is a solo female filmmaker while most of the prior stop motion we have seen comes from the imaginations of men... an obvious point of departure and perspective in this film. Not since Lotte Reiniger's cut-outs have we seen this level of work on the silver screen from a female artist.
*Minor spoiler* For me the scene depicting the cats-cradle showcases how extraordinary this woman's technical skills are and in addition to the gravity defying scenes created by ONE set of hands! Mark Growden deserves his due in cross-defining the films tempo and tempest with his soundtrack.
This film takes its rightful place among true art-films, amazing but marginalized, particularly within the American marketplace choked blue by our cultural moneychangers!
A Dark and Atmospheric Fairy Tale
max4movie11 January 2020
Full review on my blog max4movies: Blood Tea and Red String is a dark fairy tale realized through stop motion animation and featuring a high degree of symbolism. The latter makes for an interesting and unique viewing and can be compared to surreal films like Eraserhead (1977) or Un chien andalou (1929). Although the plot is enigmatic and rather superficial at times, the animation is solid, and the many details are wonderful to watch. Considering this was all done by one woman on a low budget, Blood Tea and Red String is a truly remarkable and haunting experience.
Delicattesen for the senses
Tanhausser_Gates8 October 2006
Forget about the story.. This is for those who watch movies to gather sensations, feelings, emotions. If you are the kind that enjoys paying attention to the detail you will love this one, if you want easy entertainment try something else. There are no big laughs or dramatic scenes in this one, this is a movie about feelings and sensibility taken to the extreme. If you are a extremely sensible person you've got to see this one, it is for your kind! Most likely women are going to understand and enjoy this movie to its maximum for its a masterpiece of feminine expression and subtlety.
Just watched it on Sitges Fantastic Cinema Festival with an almost full audience on a weekday at 9:15.. Unbelievable!
Just watched it on Sitges Fantastic Cinema Festival with an almost full audience on a weekday at 9:15.. Unbelievable!
Extremely disturbing but so beautiful
wilsonsummer-3457824 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I love stop-motion movies so when I found this one I was really excited. It was definitely a strange film but I don't regret watching it because of its amazing attention to detail and character design. I was obsessed with the plastic water and the spider woman. The plot seemed a little confusing at the start but gradually became clearer. It was a very slow film, but I'm not sure how it could've been done at a faster pace.
I would not watch this again due to the disturbing nature. It will probably be the cause of many nightmares. Also it had no dialogue so the atmosphere was very tense especially in the white mice scene with the clock ticking.
So overall, a beautiful movie, and exquisitely made. But at the same time extremely horrific and chaotic.
I would not watch this again due to the disturbing nature. It will probably be the cause of many nightmares. Also it had no dialogue so the atmosphere was very tense especially in the white mice scene with the clock ticking.
So overall, a beautiful movie, and exquisitely made. But at the same time extremely horrific and chaotic.
It is what it is.
cheathamg22 October 2019
Somebody gave a book to Abraham Lincoln and asked him to write a review. Lincoln read it and returned it with a note saying, "If this is the kind of book you like, you will like this book." I read through the IMDB user comments on this film and most were positive. However, I felt that most had watched it intending to like it. I like a taste of the unusual myself and that's probably why I chose to watch it. I found it interesting and slightly involving but not very enjoyable. It's not really a bad movie. It is rough-hewn and clumsy, but it obviously was meaningful to its creator and to most of the IMDB commenters. They seemed to get a lot of meaning out of it, or at least they put a lot of meaning into it.
Unique, different and dream-like.
ElijahCSkuggs30 July 2008
Blood, Tea and Red String is a fantastic stop-motion flick that delivers some drama that'll keep you very invested in the almost silent characters.
It revolves around these white mice who stole a doll of sorts from these little creatures who live inside an Oak tree. The tree creatures want their belongings back and they set out on a little adventure to recover their stolen goods. But it's not going to be so easy with poisonous fruit, man-eating plants and a conniving spider in the way. Don't forget about the greedy and confused mice.
This is a magical-feeling little world that Christiane Cegavske has built. From great little flowing streams (which kinda looks like Saran Wrap) to a little bird with a skull for its' head. Everything in this flick exudes creativity. A fantastic aspect to the film I really enjoyed was the camaraderie she gave the Oak Tree Creatures. She portrayed them as genuinely loving creatures, and it really came to fruition. And the wise frog almost steals the show with his Yoda type qualities. And not to mention the unique-sounding fairytale music as well.
Everything came to a fantastic conclusion in this movie. A labor of love it was and a love of labor it became for me. If you're interested in stop-motion ala Svankenmejer (?) or fantasy for that matter, then you should definitely give this little wonder of a film a whirl.
It revolves around these white mice who stole a doll of sorts from these little creatures who live inside an Oak tree. The tree creatures want their belongings back and they set out on a little adventure to recover their stolen goods. But it's not going to be so easy with poisonous fruit, man-eating plants and a conniving spider in the way. Don't forget about the greedy and confused mice.
This is a magical-feeling little world that Christiane Cegavske has built. From great little flowing streams (which kinda looks like Saran Wrap) to a little bird with a skull for its' head. Everything in this flick exudes creativity. A fantastic aspect to the film I really enjoyed was the camaraderie she gave the Oak Tree Creatures. She portrayed them as genuinely loving creatures, and it really came to fruition. And the wise frog almost steals the show with his Yoda type qualities. And not to mention the unique-sounding fairytale music as well.
Everything came to a fantastic conclusion in this movie. A labor of love it was and a love of labor it became for me. If you're interested in stop-motion ala Svankenmejer (?) or fantasy for that matter, then you should definitely give this little wonder of a film a whirl.
Intriguing, but technically unsophisticated
Zofo12 June 2022
Noble attempt, but ultimately not an accomplished artistic achievement.
These dolls would be appropriate for a children's film, which this is most certainly not. Sloppy, jerky animation and awkward character movements once again remind us of cute stop motion shorts from around 1960s, but in an adult feature from 2000s it doesn't work and is simply unpleasant to look at. In short, aesthetically this film is for kindergarteners, while the story is obviously not. The direction is more or less adequate although not particularly inventive, the action is somewhat slow, not everything onscreen is interesting or necessary. For this reason, and also because the story is not really developed into much detail, the film seems somewhat overlong.
Take for comparison Jim Henson's «The Dark Crystal» (1982) to see a well-developed story of the same kind or Tim Burton's and Henry Selick's films to see good stop motion animation.
The overall impression: not bad, but not good enough.
These dolls would be appropriate for a children's film, which this is most certainly not. Sloppy, jerky animation and awkward character movements once again remind us of cute stop motion shorts from around 1960s, but in an adult feature from 2000s it doesn't work and is simply unpleasant to look at. In short, aesthetically this film is for kindergarteners, while the story is obviously not. The direction is more or less adequate although not particularly inventive, the action is somewhat slow, not everything onscreen is interesting or necessary. For this reason, and also because the story is not really developed into much detail, the film seems somewhat overlong.
Take for comparison Jim Henson's «The Dark Crystal» (1982) to see a well-developed story of the same kind or Tim Burton's and Henry Selick's films to see good stop motion animation.
The overall impression: not bad, but not good enough.
Horrible
davie_us1 April 2007
I love this type of movie with a really arty look and a good underlying theme but this movie was horrible. Seriously horrible. Lsd is a bad drug...... Sometimes it brings out really creative movies. Not this time..... This movie is about ... I won't give the underlying theme of the characters but its about mice and bird type animals doing absolutely nothing. it was completely boring and well just boring. I have seen better movies sold for a dollar at walmart on the discount racks. Like I said to you before I love this type of low-budget movie. usually it has a great meaning behind it that really moves me or makes me think about the problem dealt with. This movie just made me want to go to sleep.
This labor of love is delicious!!!!!!!!!
themikeadams11 December 2006
A Feast for the scenes. If you, spooky weirdo animation freaks have overlooked this, well your blow'n it! No corporate B.S. here. Pure American Gothic traditional stop motion graphics with weirdo spooky cute characters that just keep coming. Surreal soundtrack, with Brothers Quay hat tipping and Lynchalitious timing! Like your most wonderful soothing dream and your most disturbing nightmare rolled into one. Breaks any and all language barriers. Plays exactly the same for any language or culture. No crude pop references, no pumped up sassy pop covers crammed in for record sale tie ins. Help spread the word as the "evil machine" is not behind a work so honest and pure. Wonderful and devastating.
Dollmakers and Puppeteers
Cineanalyst6 September 2020
One filmmaker working on a feature-length stop-motion animated film with dolls and other materials constructed by hand must be an act of obsession--in this case, one that is reported to have taken 13 years to complete. Reflecting that, "Blood Tea and Red String" concerns dollmakers and puppeteers obsessing over and maneuvering for control of a doll, its animation and of the life borne from it. It even infects their dreams, drug-induced hallucinations and drawings. It's why so much time is spent focused on the sewing and other workings of creation, as well as destruction. That the puppeteers happen to be mice and the dollmakers some rat or wolf-like creatures with crow beaks only puts a fairy-tale layer atop what is essentially a film about its own making. It also helps that hand-crafted, personal touch pays off with some beautiful animation, undiluted by dialogue, but with a pleasant score and effective sound effects.
In the largely live-action bookend scenes, the filmmaker plants the germ of an idea--with an egg that flows downstream for the fairyland creatures. The dollmakers sew this egg into their doll, which the puppeteers steal after the doll-making "Oak Dwellers," as the film's maker, Christiane Cegavske, calls them, refuse to sell the commissioned puppet. After the egg hatches, and the bluebird flies away, one of the mice is inspired to write down the story in pictograph form. Meanwhile, the shaman frog reads the scrolls, the spider spins yarns, and the dollmakers retrieve the hatched idea and send it back down the stream to be unraveled and crystalized by the live-action animator's hand.
As for the fairy-tale layer itself, I was rather flummoxed by what I suspected might be religious symbolism. There's the Moses myth with the floating down stream business, with the animator's hand naturally being the creator, the god, of this film. Then, the Oak Dwellers hang the doll on their tree in a crucifixion pose, a position the mice will also put it in at various times. There is also the doll's stigmata-like hand holes for the mice to employ the Christ doll as a string puppet. Conversely, one may see the female-gendered doll as a Virgin Mary type birthing the blue jay. There's even the business of resurrections with the frog's hearts, plus the forbidden fruit.
On the other hand, I like others' interpretations just as well if not more so. The guy on the DVD's commentary track brings up "The Lord of the Rings" and "Pinocchio," among other things, and he and Cegavske briefly discuss the works of Beatrix Potter. There's the Labyrinth going back to Greek mythology, and elements such as tree dwellers and mystical gardens are fairy-tale staples. Better still is Tedg's IMDb review where he claims the fantasy to be the inverse of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," of the animals dreaming Alice. After all, there is a mad tea party, with the playing of cards and even a raven--once again raising the riddle of how a raven is like a writing desk. There are chattering flowers to go along with the anthropomorphic animals, there's the recurring theme of consuming food and drink--sometimes with psychedelic effects--and, again, there are the hearts, and, clearly, the film's favorite color is red--red string and red-blooded tea, although it's the spider that cuts off the heads. Caterpillars, however, are merely food here.
Cegavske avoids explaining the picture in the DVD commentary for a reason. It's ambiguous and symbolic enough to recall many a fairy tale and original enough to be of its own creation. Moreover, Cegavske claims she doesn't know the whole story of these creatures, as though, as within the film, the dolls were the ones who presented the story--the inanimate doll, via the egg, to the animated dolls that are the dollmakers and puppeteers, to the live-action hand of the creator and, finally, to us.
In the largely live-action bookend scenes, the filmmaker plants the germ of an idea--with an egg that flows downstream for the fairyland creatures. The dollmakers sew this egg into their doll, which the puppeteers steal after the doll-making "Oak Dwellers," as the film's maker, Christiane Cegavske, calls them, refuse to sell the commissioned puppet. After the egg hatches, and the bluebird flies away, one of the mice is inspired to write down the story in pictograph form. Meanwhile, the shaman frog reads the scrolls, the spider spins yarns, and the dollmakers retrieve the hatched idea and send it back down the stream to be unraveled and crystalized by the live-action animator's hand.
As for the fairy-tale layer itself, I was rather flummoxed by what I suspected might be religious symbolism. There's the Moses myth with the floating down stream business, with the animator's hand naturally being the creator, the god, of this film. Then, the Oak Dwellers hang the doll on their tree in a crucifixion pose, a position the mice will also put it in at various times. There is also the doll's stigmata-like hand holes for the mice to employ the Christ doll as a string puppet. Conversely, one may see the female-gendered doll as a Virgin Mary type birthing the blue jay. There's even the business of resurrections with the frog's hearts, plus the forbidden fruit.
On the other hand, I like others' interpretations just as well if not more so. The guy on the DVD's commentary track brings up "The Lord of the Rings" and "Pinocchio," among other things, and he and Cegavske briefly discuss the works of Beatrix Potter. There's the Labyrinth going back to Greek mythology, and elements such as tree dwellers and mystical gardens are fairy-tale staples. Better still is Tedg's IMDb review where he claims the fantasy to be the inverse of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," of the animals dreaming Alice. After all, there is a mad tea party, with the playing of cards and even a raven--once again raising the riddle of how a raven is like a writing desk. There are chattering flowers to go along with the anthropomorphic animals, there's the recurring theme of consuming food and drink--sometimes with psychedelic effects--and, again, there are the hearts, and, clearly, the film's favorite color is red--red string and red-blooded tea, although it's the spider that cuts off the heads. Caterpillars, however, are merely food here.
Cegavske avoids explaining the picture in the DVD commentary for a reason. It's ambiguous and symbolic enough to recall many a fairy tale and original enough to be of its own creation. Moreover, Cegavske claims she doesn't know the whole story of these creatures, as though, as within the film, the dolls were the ones who presented the story--the inanimate doll, via the egg, to the animated dolls that are the dollmakers and puppeteers, to the live-action hand of the creator and, finally, to us.
A dark fairy tale expressed through a dieing art form.
expro30 November 2006
An Ideal film for those who like to disappear and reappear into some one else's fantasy. Cegaveske has created a world so full of detail and atmosphere it feels as if you are sucked into a dream. Like dreams, the actual storyline does not seem to matter, it feels more like a series of events unfolding before you. Also the fact that it is dialog free allows you to interpret the narrative for your self. Or just sit back and let the film just happen, when the credits role you may think what just happened, did I just watch what I think I did, oh sh*t I'm in my living room and my tea has gone cold. Technically the film is amazing, stop motion is a very laborious process and for one person to do all that is so impressive, it is not surprising it took 13 years to make! Stop-motion animation is a dieing art form so its nice to know that some artists remain true to it. The quality of stop motion animation creates such a magic feel that CGI will never achieve. The animation has a style of Jiri Trnkr, for it is very beautiful, but with a dark twist Svankmajer style. What makes it unique it that it is very much the vision of one person. Also fair play to Mark Growden for creating a sound track that perfectly complements the film and creates that fairy tail feel. Two scenes that really stick out are the mice having a drunken punch up, you get the impression that they really want to lump each other hard in the chops. But it's the trippin' out after eating the yellow fruit which really got me. If you like a unconventional fairy tail, a bit of fantasy or have any interest in stop motion, please treat your eyes to this. Also if you like this check out another fantastic feature length stop-motion film called Krysar; (The Pied Piper / The Rat-catcher) by Jiri Barta, its quite dark too!
Pros and cons
benjyboom17 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Pros:
Nice to look at, the water looked good
Frog had some tricks up his sleeve
String was used in fun ways, a good recurring image
Kind of mythologically heavy, I guess it speaks to a grand world
Cons: Chunky movement Not very original story wise, no really good story beats Themes are simple, undeveloped
Best part: fighting the spider, savage and terrifying with real stakes Worst part: the card scene, takes very long and doesn't tell much, also sound is annoying
Cons: Chunky movement Not very original story wise, no really good story beats Themes are simple, undeveloped
Best part: fighting the spider, savage and terrifying with real stakes Worst part: the card scene, takes very long and doesn't tell much, also sound is annoying
A different kind of fairy tale
Rectangular_businessman8 October 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This was a fascinating animation.
Even when this movie can't be compared with the masterpieces done by Jiří Trnka, Jan Svankmajer and the Brothers Quay, there are still many beautiful qualities about "Blood Tea and Red String", a film able to combine the most whimsical elements from fairy tales and fables with lots of surreal scenes. It might be a weird film, but this is an example of a good kind of weirdness.
I liked a lot the animation style from this film, which despite being done in the year 2006, has a strong resemblance with many stop-motion shorts done in the seventies and the eighties, something that works very well for the story of "Blood Tea and Red Sting". The plot was very strange, but very interesting to watch at the same time, having a marvelous dream-like quality which evokes the whimsical nature of some fairy tales.
In "Blood Tea and Red String", the grotesque and captivating elements are combined perfectly well, being the perfect example of what can be considered as a true fairy tale for adults, in the same way that "The City of the Lost Children" and "Pan's Labyrinth". Without being a perfect film, it does have the heart in the right place, resulting in a more than worth-watching experience.
8.5/10
Even when this movie can't be compared with the masterpieces done by Jiří Trnka, Jan Svankmajer and the Brothers Quay, there are still many beautiful qualities about "Blood Tea and Red String", a film able to combine the most whimsical elements from fairy tales and fables with lots of surreal scenes. It might be a weird film, but this is an example of a good kind of weirdness.
I liked a lot the animation style from this film, which despite being done in the year 2006, has a strong resemblance with many stop-motion shorts done in the seventies and the eighties, something that works very well for the story of "Blood Tea and Red Sting". The plot was very strange, but very interesting to watch at the same time, having a marvelous dream-like quality which evokes the whimsical nature of some fairy tales.
In "Blood Tea and Red String", the grotesque and captivating elements are combined perfectly well, being the perfect example of what can be considered as a true fairy tale for adults, in the same way that "The City of the Lost Children" and "Pan's Labyrinth". Without being a perfect film, it does have the heart in the right place, resulting in a more than worth-watching experience.
8.5/10
Weirdness for Weirdness Sake? Disappointing...
joni4623118 June 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Allow me to begin by saying that I WANTED to like this movie. While it may have certain "qualities" inherent in the culmination of a 13 (or so) year long HOBBY by a woman who has admitted she has no idea what the symbolism of the movie is, why the characters do the things they do or behave in the ways that they behave, neither what their roles actually are, as in the case of the frog with the apparently endless supply of actual (although very pale) hearts and the trippy tea and hallucinogenic red berries... IS he the gardener who cares for the carnivorous plants in the oasis inside the maze? If so, why lure in the "Oak Dwellers" in the first place only to "rescue" them later? In an eggshell, I (personally) was very disappointed in Blood Tea & Red String.
Tow family, one girl, one children
GREENWOOD_964 December 2006
This is a good example of the real artistic sense, I mean the hole movie is so fascinating, everything seem to fit perfectly. First It's an animation, so if you like movie like Gigli stay AWAY!
Very surrealist, the relation of the girl with the family bird and the family mouse is very strange. The movie is very slow and the character evolve in an complex and beautiful background. the story is a dark and the there not a lot of explication about what really happen with the two family. The style is also very great I mean, there a lots of work behind that, and we feel during the movie that every details is the more realistic as possible. If you have the chance to see this movie don't miss it this is a great piece of art.
Very surrealist, the relation of the girl with the family bird and the family mouse is very strange. The movie is very slow and the character evolve in an complex and beautiful background. the story is a dark and the there not a lot of explication about what really happen with the two family. The style is also very great I mean, there a lots of work behind that, and we feel during the movie that every details is the more realistic as possible. If you have the chance to see this movie don't miss it this is a great piece of art.
A wonderfully strange, but enjoyable adventure
Lockout_Salties31 March 2020
Let me start off by saying that Blood Tea and Red String is not for everyone. Some may find it too boring, meaningless, or even morbid. But I found this film to be really weird, but so unabashedly unique that I couldn't help but go along with it especially because it took the filmmakers thirteen years to finish Blood Tea and Red String. Thirteen years! People that dedicated must have been happy with the final product. And you can see why they are. The film often is rather dreamlike and perhaps a little disturbing in its imagery, but that adds to the charm and intrigue of it.
I first watched Blood Tea at around 3:00 AM, and found myself drifting off to sleep every now and then. It's hard to tell if that's the movie's fault or not, but in a way it added to the experience. I was constantly questioning what actually happened, and what I had just imagined. With a more plot focused movie, this would have been disorientating and very unpleasant. But due to the nature of Blood Tea and Red String, I found myself reinvested in the film to try and figure out what was actually going on here. Top it all off with an ending that will confuse you, but ultimately have you say "aw, how sweet," and you have a great stop motion film.
Final Score: 75/100.
I first watched Blood Tea at around 3:00 AM, and found myself drifting off to sleep every now and then. It's hard to tell if that's the movie's fault or not, but in a way it added to the experience. I was constantly questioning what actually happened, and what I had just imagined. With a more plot focused movie, this would have been disorientating and very unpleasant. But due to the nature of Blood Tea and Red String, I found myself reinvested in the film to try and figure out what was actually going on here. Top it all off with an ending that will confuse you, but ultimately have you say "aw, how sweet," and you have a great stop motion film.
Final Score: 75/100.
"Blood tea and red string" was an hour of my life I will never get back
romangrappledawg18 December 2008
It took the producer 13 years to cobble out a movie with no plot, reason or point. The mutated creatures were freakish and their interaction didn't make any sense.
The sick obsession with the doll was borderline psychotic, and possibly reveals some inner mental issues of who ever wrote the script, if there was ever a script at all.
I enjoy independent film that puts forward metaphors and ask more of the viewer than the usual Hollywood remake of "Air Bud." But this movie asked me to gouge out my eyes with a spork just to make the pain of watching it go away.
My date requested that the producer be executed by Trebuchet.
Grappledawg.
The sick obsession with the doll was borderline psychotic, and possibly reveals some inner mental issues of who ever wrote the script, if there was ever a script at all.
I enjoy independent film that puts forward metaphors and ask more of the viewer than the usual Hollywood remake of "Air Bud." But this movie asked me to gouge out my eyes with a spork just to make the pain of watching it go away.
My date requested that the producer be executed by Trebuchet.
Grappledawg.
artistry is in the details
jlhendr4 September 2021
I love stop motion animation and this is best. The skill it took to work at such a detailed level is beyond amazing. What blew me away was the sound. It's creepy and still beautiful. The pace is slow in a lazy and comfortable way like an afternoon nap. Thank you Tubi for having this kind of offbeat content!
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