A story set in
Belgium about a
little boy who dreams of becoming a
painter. A beautiful story that was turned into a beautiful
anime. I strongly recommend them both.
The story has a remarkable narrative style, devoid of
dialogue, chock full of descriptiony goodness. I really can't do it justice, you should read it yourself at:
http://www.nakedword.org/htmltext/doflande.html
The anime is neither superior or inferior. With this anime they have attained that amazing equilibrium achieved in
Ghost in the Shell and nearly got with
Akira where niether the story nor the anime is superior, they stand together in a state of side by side ass-kicking. The animation is amazing, with the best melding of cg and cel art I've ever seen. The sound track is really incredible. The only problem with it is the fact that
Pioneer released it in
North America. Most North American anime fans know that Pioneer is usually synonimous with crappy, but it this case, it simply isn't.
As a final note, this is seriously one of the most touching movies and stories I have experienced in a long time. Yes, that's right, heartless, insensitive scab was brought to tears. I hadn't been so moved since time I read and experienced a live performance of
King Lear. It won't happen again.