'Hoffmaniada': The Stop-Motion Masterpiece You Can't Watch
I really love this film, as did those I watched it with. However, it's very much not made in a mainstream way, despite its mainstream production values, so it will never have a mass audience. I think the problem is that its main character is the sort of sensitive artist who most people will just not feel kinship with, plus it has an "outdated" 19th-century worldview. I'm glad that it was completed and released - truly a miracle.
Improved English subtitles for Hoffmaniada are available since July 2020 on KG (improved from the original translation by Kevin McNeer, which was already mostly pretty good). I hope the film appears on Youtube at some point, as a lot of other Russian animated features have. It was funded out of public funds (even if Soyuzmultfilm is acting rather like a private company these days), so it seems only fair that it should be accessible. Maybe in a few years.
Expand full comment
ncG1vNJzZmiZnp66osDIqKWomqOawLS11Z5lrK2SqMGir8pnmqilX6V8qbvFn6SappmWsaJ506GcZqukpL1uuc6toKimXaKutMDEq6einZOafKS7zKacp6yj