Ersatz (1961)

Ersatz Review

Ersatz (The Substitute) is a 1961 Oscar-winning Croatian animated short film which was directed by Dusan Vukotic.

A man takes a trip to the beach and every object he brings with him, no matter how unlikely, is inflatable. That is the plot here and, needless to say, it is slight and the film is almost plotless. It is an excuse to venture into surreal territory, but I did not grasp the meaning or the point of it.

But you can’t deny the strengths of its animation. It is stupendously well animated and actually quite inventive in some of its scenes. I really liked the main character and the sounds that he made were quite amusing. The designs here are odd, yet very authentic. The movements and the colors were all really well incorporated and the film is quite unique in some of its imagery. But it is still a flawed film as the plot is nowhere to be found and the conclusion isn’t the greatest. It got the Oscar and although not deserved in my opinion, it wasn’t a terrible choice as I can see where they’re coming from as the film is pretty artistic in its own way.

Ersatz is imaginative and quite inventive in its animation, but pointless in plot and ultimately just solid.