Coda (2013)

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

...to questions defining us. to fears, expectations, need of discover and understand than you live. and that does "Coda" more than a good film. but a ball of nostalgia and fragments of past, clear definition of life purpose, meet with sounds and flavors and dreams and new beginnings and roots/fruits of a new chance. it is one of the most useful animations. and this does it real special. like the sound of voice of grand father after the end of a fairy tale preserving yourself as character of it.

"Coda" is a 9-minute Irish short film from 2 years ago. The writer and director is Alan Holly and as neither he nor his co-writer Rory Byrne were very experienced when they make this I must say they came up with a good result overall. This short film has lessons and references on life and death from start to finish as well as on addiction, regret and other serious issues, so it's not one for small children to watch. Occasionally it reminded be a bit of the Irish full feature film in terms of the style, especially the scenes in the park. There is a slight touch of horror to the way death looks like. All in all, I enjoyed this film, even if i probably did not understand even 75% of it. The animation is not for everybody I am sure. The story is fine and pretty smart (almost to the degree of pretentious), but there are moments of greatness missing for me to be really enthusiastic about this movie. Still, all in all, also taking the fact that Holly is still a rookie into account, it's not a bad work. Recommended. This won actually a couple awards and also managed an Annie nomination (Animation Oscars). Oh yeah, Brendan Gleeson's son is in it as well. (not the one from "Six Shooter".

A drunken man stumbles out of a club when he is struck by a car and instantly killed. As a crowd gathers, his spirit continues its stumbling journey home – with Death following close behind, to collect him up.There is an almost perfect calm stillness to this short film that it builds very well in the first half, then delivers on in the second half. The narrative is as simple as it sounds; a man sits with Death before the end comes, however it is the manner and tone of delivery that makes this animated film impact as it does. The tone is very thoughtful and calming, so while there is bargaining and fear of death (and Death) it is done in such a way that it captures the feeling of appreciating life and experiencing the beauty of it. This unfolds in particular in the second half, where the images and ideas are really very touching with their simplicity – not their simplicity in terms of what happens, but more the base feelings of the man and how easily they are connected to. We hear of this base fear and need in regard to the oft-told story of soldiers crying out for their mothers as they lie on the battlefield, and this short connects to that, but does so stripped of the emotional side of the fear, or the desperation at least.The animation adds to this feeling, by having a great flow and design. It moves very smoothly and is very creative in what it shows and how it shows it; the first half is good but in particular the second half is very strong. It a very delicate film, with a simple idea, but it is surprisingly affecting, with a good understanding of the fear of death, and of the desire for more time and what we would do with it.