The House of Small Cubes is a japanese animation short film created by Kunio Katō in 2008. Won the Oscar award for best animated short in 2009. I do not own this video All credits go to respective creator "Kunio Katō".
Watched this film a few years ago with my wife and young son...before her diagnosis...she's gone now, and he probably doesn't remember the film at all...I'd love to share it with him at some point but not sure if I'm ready to watch the whole thing by myself even, let alone in front of him... The part that knocked me over skimming it just now was when they're laying up the bricks together...I know it's a metaphor; but when we bought our house, the first thing we did together was take down the brick chimney and replace it with a skylight and light shaft...and by we, I mean her and I, together, on the roof, by hand, brick by brick...(with help from friends)...the goal was always to fix up this place and then keep on going...together...lift it, or add on, or design and build another structure on our property...never even got the first job done. Like Michael Solano said down below: live fully the first time. There's no way to know how many levels we're going to get.
@Nilmani Basumatary the size represents how full his life is with things that make him happy. It gets larger as he has children before becoming smaller when they leave. Then as his wife dies it becomes smaller again. And slowly as time goes on his life becomes more empty and lonely, so the house gets smaller. Edit: I mean child, not children. Apologies, I had a moment, it was late.
@@bertiec1593 No, it doesn't. It gets smaller even while his daughter - he had one child, not children - grows up. Go and rewrite your own story, not this Oscar winning one.
Mark Cynic I think you’ll find that when his daughter is born it gets a lot bigger. The first level is very small. The second level, that we see his daughter as a baby in, is much bigger.
Memories down to childhood, love, affection, separation, priorities, family etc and finally we are all alone in this world. Hoping that at least for a minute whom we have lost, will meet them..
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As a person who is an absolute SUCKER for these kinds of somber films, as in, i allmost allways roll on the floor and cry in to a bucket over how oppressive the atmosphere usually is in these types of movies. This 12 minute thing tho i think hits SUCH an astounding resonance with me though. 3 minutes in i already just could NOT handle how well the movie was hitting me. The art style and vibe hit me so hard that i was ready to just burst in tears in its 1st couple of moments. The overwhelming feeling of somber loneliness is a thing that also tore me emotionally apart, it is simply impossible not to feel symphatethic towards the old man. However, i think the animation and subtlety is this pieces greatest strength. Being able to convey emotion and messages through simple visual cues and facial expressions. It is truly a lost art in any cinematic piece of media. Not to mention the somber music playing over it, setting the tone all on its own. Its metaphors and journey of both the effects of time and the continued life of a man whose life is seemingly meaningless, as he is lonely, and living under constant need to build new floors to keep living, and seemingly eats the same meals each day, spending his time reminiscing on his past. It truly hits a note within the human psyche wherein you wonder "what would i do if i ended up this way?". And truly, what would you? Might i remind you of that it does all of this, in 12 minutes 12 minutes 12 FREAKING MINUTES T W E L V E. Kunio, you're a genius.
I KNOW! I’ve watched this like 5 times and I cry every time. Why can’t beautiful sad short films be more mainstream? At the same time I’m glad it’s niche because I feel like it retains its specialness, its uniqueness.
That's me, I've done almost all of the internet ones no problem, but when my friends said I should watch this I thought it'd be easy. But this fucking thing had me balling, and that's why I love it.
It's OK sometimes if your watching A sad film and it doesn't make you cry I watched watership down and that didn't make me cry But not that I don't have no heart
I come back to watch this every year and I still can't watch it without shedding a tear. Do you guys ever think "what if that was me?" I do. I don't think I'd have the strength to keep going and eventually, well, you know the rest. Loneliness is one of my greatest fears. When I know for sure that no one is coming for me or that those I held dear are gone forever. That scares me. I couldn't handle this. I could never handle this.
What a grand deep beautiful creation here! I’m 73 and at his stage of caring for an ailing wife who has been my magnificent partner on these journeys for 50 years. I find myself frozen in fear about what will happen in our future… rather soon. I’m terrified. But also trying to soak up the tiny happiness moments we still have together, and I constantly drift back to all those wonderful memories…together.
one there'll be no place for him to build up to and his house will sum to the water like many others did. His time will have ended and it will be now time for him to go
I read some comments while waiting for this to load and I thought I was warned enough with the tears. Oh, how I thought. I haven't cried this hard in a while. This short film is amazing; I won't spoil it but it's absolutely a masterpiece.
I saw this on netflix and fell in love. Simple yet extrordinary drawings and a short yet meaningfull story. Although there was no words spoken it felt like the dialog was truly there.
it's been 9 years since i watched this. The fast land of submerged water and what's left is the depiction about part of your memories that's still exist since your childhood.
I am not a sentimental person. Some even call me sociopathic. But this...this twelve minute, wordless film, made me cry. Sob almost. If beauty and art had a representing film, this would be it. In my opinion. Thank you for listening, friend.
my multimedia teacher played this in class for our animation unit; the one time im glad we were quarantined & doing online school because i was crying fat tears by the end of this, lol.
I first felt Emptiness, Taking its place was Sadness And a Loneliness But then came Hope And the warmth of Joy And its Bliss that followed But before I could take it all in, They faded back into the distant memory Yet now in the place of Emptiness And Sadness And the Loneliness Fulfilment was kindled This video was a rollercoaster of emotions, still gives me this feeling since I first saw it 6 years ago in school
This truly is a masterpiece. As one comment has mentioned that it is impossible to not feel sympathetic towards the old man, I could not agree more. However, my emotions and feelings do not stop with just that. I am not sure what Kunio had in mind when he created this masterpiece. Was it his fear that people will not be together forever? Was it that at the end you just have your spouse to be with and that your children will have their life of their own? Was it that old people lament things and that the memories will push them forward in living? Or was it climate change? This without a doubt is a film about an old man living alone with the memories of the past. But the flooding. Is it wrong to say that the movie would be less painful if he was in the same land where he grew up- with green trees, with the earth beneath the feet? The flooding just keeps on growing. Isn't this what climate change will look like? Some places flooded, some burnt, more lands too dry to grow anything on. And in the end, there will be more people regretting than there are people who deny climate change. I am not sure if I expressed my frustration well, neither am I confident that I conveyed what I had to say in these lines. But if you're reading this comment, I would like it if you become more environmentally conscious. And if you already are, I am glad that there are people like you. Thankyou Kunio Katō.
I can't cry to this video even through I understand the thoughtful metaphor of life that this anime offers. Years of suffering made me lose my sense of empathy or is it because I have yet to form a close bond with someone? I think that I'll just stick with the fact that I'm still young and didn't experience life to the fullest like this lonely old man did :[
Every year the theatre where I worked had a programme of Oscar nominated shorts (documentary, live-action, and abimation). I was only ever interested in the animation. Some years were better than others. Two shorts that stuck out was this one and the World of Tomorrow. Both have a melancholic tone that captured my imagination. It's such a simple and beautiful premise that could be interpreted many ways or enjoyed on its surface as a story of some cataclysmic event which caused sea levels to rise, the character descending into each level of his ever expanding home and seeing the memories each evokes. It can certainly be seen for its environmental perspective. It is quite remarkable.
Man, I came here because I'm a writer and I was looking for some references for a new job. I always dive too deep and ended up finding an article that mentioned this short film. I just lost my grandma and the last few days I was thinking about the nature of time and this film hit me right in the head. Somewhat bittersweet, strong, sensitive. It will always remain in my soul.
This is my first time ever seeing this film. My family recently had to move out of our family home - the only one I have ever known. I feel like our tower of small cubes is abandoned and unfinished. We will make a new tower in a new place, but I will miss the memories that came with being in our home. Thank you for uploading this.
Когда то давно, я видел этот мульт, и сейчас я смог его заново отыскать, только благодаря Chatgpt. Он ориентировался по моей памяти, и смог отыскать этот мульт...Эмоции этот мульт вызывает все те же, тоску по прошлому, грусть и прочее
The first time I watched this was around mid 2017, at that time i was just a teen and watched it after i heard there’s a short movie and this and that and didn’t watched it properly and now it’s 2022 after five whole years i just remembered the movie again but this time I forgot the name of this movie so i had to search “ old man short movie cartoon” and I just finished watching it but this time it really hit me hard and left me with a teary eye.
The isolation he feels in his tiny room, surrounded by water, is how my husband and I feel stuck in our house during Corona Virus lockdowns. It was very touchingly sad this film.
Beautiful journey of life and truth ,AS he takes us all down the memories with water levels ,it felt like time travel and took my breath away, Thank you for making this Kunio Kato.
This film makes you just want to cry.....Life...is so beautiful. You all deserve to enjoy and cherish all the memories you can make with your loved ones.
Every great animation begins with a clever concept. From that point its up to the animators to allow the story to be unveiled in a manner fitting. To all those involved - bravo.
i watched this animation on netflix when i was really young. i remember not understanding much on those days, but today, i see the message this short movie gives us. i struggled a lot while trying to remember the name of the animation, and now that i know icoundnt be happier
That's sad and sweet in the same time, but that's how we learn to be strong and to move on, like the old men.[->Spoilers!!!]When he was going down and down from to top of the see to its bottom to find the pipe he was going through some level, one level means one room sometimes.When he found it, while he was going back to his house, in some rooms he remembered thing that happend in his life in each room he was (like when he was taking care of his old, seek,-but beautiful in my opinion-wife, when he made a family photo, etc.). And the walls full of photographies of his family members and maybe with neighbours who died means, maybe, that he "was feeding with memories"...but what can you do when you have a life like this. In the same time he was strong and he knew that what he "lost" will never come back, like it was some time ago, so he thought it is good to be happy or just not to feel sad because that will never help. And I'm not a monster but I didn't cry or need to cry...I don't think this is as sad as other sad movies I watched. And yes, I understand it. This is the third time I'm watching it (first on Netflix) and it is amazing. It deserves more Awards, in my opinion.Well....Enjoy it!
He was enjoying the warm memories it brought to him, knowing that they wouldn't come back. Putting out two cups as if to say "I know I'll see you again." This made me want to help my brother, who is dealing personal issues.
I get it water is time and the cubes are different periods of life and the higher you get the less there's left of it This made me ugly cry devastating but amazing this is beautiful There are few things that can be called a masterpiece but this definitely is. Twelve minutes.... Twelve
