"The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa" is a 10-minute short movie written and directed by American filmmaker and Oscar nominee Caroline Leaf. This one is based on a work by Franz Kafka, which already tells you that, even if it is an animated movie, it is still a fairly dark tale. Leaf, now retired apparently, got some awards recognition as usual, but I cannot share the praise. I must say I did not find it particularly entertaining or scary, just really weird. It is the story of the title character, who transforms randomly and out of nowhere into some kind of huge beetle. You can probably imagine what happens when other people find out about this. Lets just say they were not amused. I also did not really like the animation style here, but this is of course entirely subjective. Leaf still has to wow me. What I have seen from her so far, did not really impress me and this one here is just mediocre at best too. Not recommended.

This is a film where the viewer will probably just sit there and wonder "how did they ever do that?!", as the animation style is unique and very clever. While I have seen a few films like this that used sand as a medium for animation, it's not typically used for animated films--that's for sure. Because the film didn't use colors and the sand looks very dark (like fine metal shavings), the overall mood is very dark. This is good, actually, as Kafka's story "Metamorphosis" is a very dark tale. It all begins with a man awakening to discover that he's now a giant cockroach in bed. Why? Dunno and it sure sucks to be him! All this animation is set to violin music and it works very well. The only negatives are that the story is awfully familiar as well as a bit depressing. But, considering how nicely done it all is, this can easily be ignored.

For the majority of viewers today animation means either Disney, Pixar or Japan. Or something just for children or light entertainment for children and adults or for some weirdos that look for hentai. A few know that Canada has some of the best animators worldwide. Norman McLaren, Frederick Back, Paul Driessen, Ryan Larkin to name a few, that influenced animation and even cinema forever. Caroline Leaf is one of them. Kafka's works have always been a headache for film directors. How can his work, full of symbolism and nightmarish scenes, Freudian undertones and unique narrative be transferred on film?Animation could offer an alternative way and this is exactly what Caroline Leaf tries to accomplish here. If you've read the original short novel of Kafka then you'll feel familiar. If not try to read it first since it will help a lot in appreciating the effort of the animator. My only complaint is that she chose to animate Samsa as an actual cockroach, while in the novel this works rather symbolically. On the other hand the sound department excels and the way Samsa hears and grasps the sound or utters of his family is perfectly transferred from the novel. Despite the somehow blatant depiction of Samsa as a cockroach, the unique animation technique of C. Leaf produces marvels and sometimes it even transcends the book narrative and it offers even an alternative way, only very few could imagine. Samsa's sister looks a lot like Kafka's sister from the photographs. This short animated film is a must watch for animation fans and for those who read the works of Franz Kafka and other similar authors.Animation for adults can mean something else besides sex and violence and this is exactly what this film is about.