From giant fish heads to deformed birds to manatees attacking cities, the bizarre and the unexplainable all frequent the films of Don Herzfeldt. In his most artistic and abstract film, (winning the Sundance Film Festival's Short Film-making Award) Everything Will Be OK, he channels his fevered genius into the story of Bill, a man lost in the exasperation of existence.The film is narrated completely by Bill, a lonely and exhausted man who walks through a parking lot, chats with neighbors, grocery store clerks and his ex-girlfriend - but mostly he contemplates his chaotic dreams and the hallucinations he kids himself he doesn't have. Chronicling several days in his life, from his preoccupation with death to his recovery in a hospital, Everything Will Be OK promises just that.I have a theory about opera music; and that is that tying any operatic pieces to a film magically and automatically makes it more poignant, thought-provoking and deep. Herzfeldt does this with masterly care and it makes the most awkward and dissonant moments more dramatic and powerful. From Bill gazing at a torn plastic bag flapping in the breeze on the end of a broken pole, to quietly sucking blood from the corner of a sore in his mouth, the calming sounds of opera voices grants us time to take in his abstract visions and actions and appreciate them as art. But is it art? Occasionally, or perhaps frequently, the images and voices that narrate the few days in Bill's life are so disjointed, so appallingly random, and most of all shockingly off-putting that the average viewer might not find the meaning behind it all. And perhaps this is what Herzfeldt wanted. Regardless of the hidden themes and purposeful hectic imagery, humor is always prevalent in Everything Will Be OK. Whether or not that humor is your cup of tea is really dependent on how much humor you unearth from the morbidity of death, mental sickness and the monotony of life. The sporadic nature of his jokes, from Bill dreaming of throwing dead bodies out of a tiny boat to his experiencing the sudden inability to control his bladder, is oftentimes enough to jolt a giggle from the audience. At other times, the dire seriousness of attacking his mother or having his own thoughts drowned out by stinging voices in his mind, are enough to reattach ourselves to the realities Herzfeldt portrays.The animation Herzfeldt uses is the kind that wobbles and wiggles on screen, due to the individual drawings not lining up completely. The character designs themselves are ridiculously simple, practically to the point of stick figures, but this gives the artist time to concentrate on the creative aspects of his animation. Using black and white masks to reveal only portions of the screen, mostly off-centered or with multiple windows of activities occurring simultaneously, Everything Will Be OK unfolds at a fast pace and presents much of the confusion Bill experiences just as chaotically for the audience. The simplicity of the art itself aids the idea that the story is universally approachable, although not necessarily universally coherent.Commenting on the themes of life, death, mental deterioration and the repetition of dull everyday life, Bill's adventures, which cover seemingly unadventurous events, sees him journey from one average day through to the brink of extinction, and then back again to the sameness he may never be content with. The final scene in which he rides a bus in the rain once again slows with the introduction of serene opera voices, which leaves us, whether understanding his journey or not, with a sense of satisfaction.Mike Massie

At 17 minutes, this is a long animated short and one that might bore a number of people, but it was strangely intriguing. Basically, it's just a narrator seen on screen as a stick figure talking about life as it passes him by, his thoughts and some of things that happen to him. It's hard to explain, because it's bizarre humor. As someone who appreciates the absurd, I laughed out loud a half-dozen times at some of the crazy "observations" the narrator made.Our host, our main figure, has mental problems. Socially, he's a real loser but you root for him and even in monotone delivery, you hang on each word he says.....at least I did. Be warned, however: some of it is a little gross and once the narrator blatantly profanes. (This isn't something a kid would watch, anyway.) Visually, the artist varies from individual to multiple drawings on screen at once. You can literally see several of the man's thoughts at once as he thinks them. Most of the visuals are the stick-figure drawings but there are photos as well. You get a little bit of everything in this strange film.I also thought the first half of this was far more entertaining and the story and words get darker and more depressing and disturbing as the animation short goes on. If you are familiar with the work of the author of this piece, you know how sick and demented this "movie" might be to many people.This was included in the DVD, "The Animation Show, Vol. 3" and is very original, as the other entries are on this disc. It's also "not for all tastes."

This is one of the most amazing films ever. It grabs you quickly by using Hertzfeld's charming (and disarming) stick-figure style, makes you laugh at (protagonist) Bill's simple social flubs, that progress into something much darker and more real. More important and desperate.If you or a close loved one have ever thought you might be going mad, it will certainly touch raw nerves, drawing you into Bill's confusion, helplessness, feelings of inadequacy and depression. No small feat for stick figures. I am someone who gets totally absorbed in movies and must admit I was moved to tears at more than one viewing (I was fortunate enough to see this on a large screen at two separate film festivals and finally ordered my own copy from Bitterfilms.com, the only source for DVD's of the film).In my defense I was not alone, I paid special attention to listen to other patrons. It was amazing to watch a whole theater so quickly laughing and then to be moved just as quickly to sympathy by what are in essence line drawings. I struggle to think of another animator who can so readily evoke such feelings. Perhaps Adam Benjmin Eliot's black & white claymation comes close.Those familiar with Hertzfeldt's earlier work might notice a similar emotional pattern to "Meaning of Life" in it's building intensity that rises to a deafening, maddening din, only to take a long silent reflective pause towards the end, before returning to the original story. Much like the musical structure of many classical operas.Likewise it shares "Meaning"'s use of many beautiful "in-camera" effects to awe inspiring ends. By various method of folding, crumbling, burning, staining and otherwise distressing the paper that the animations are being produced on, Bill's whole world is shown to crumble around him, both in his reality and ours.I don't think there is one frame of this that isn't completely enjoyable. The editing keeps us constantly looking to another area of the screen to catch up, and I don't think there's one shot where we see the entire screen filled with one image, further showing the frantic thoughts of our hero.For some reason one of the images that sticks with me is what (I imagine) is footage of rain on a black garbage bag. Another is of an rubber pig, hand puppet filmed out of focus.Fans of animation will like this easily, but I've already made new fans of other friends who are are almost film snobs and normally wouldn't choose to watch what they call, with a noticeably condescending tone, "Cartoons".I can't wait to see what Hertzfeld does next

This Animation was truly wonderful, I saw it during the Animation Show 3, and was simply amazed. People may call Hertzfeldt's work "bad" because of the lack of detail in the frames, well, I oppose that. Hertzfeldt wastes no time in making his frames into ultimately perfected pieces of Art. The narration (which I assume is Hertzfeldt) is hilarious as it revolves around a "special" time in Bill's demented life, ranging from trips to the local grocery store with the crotch-fruit to having his head sent in to space (which his ex-girlfriend feels uncomfortable about). As the film progresses, you find out that not "everything will be okay", but then it is for two days, then it isn't, but the next day, he feels better, and truly, everything will be okay.