Love, Death+Robots: Jibaro Review
- By Shargeel Sheikh -
- Jun 14, 2022
“If you want to do animation for adults, you need to be wild and you need to be extreme”, said the Oscar and Emmy award winning director Alberto Mielgo in a conversation with “Netflix Geeked”.
To him it’s as aesthetic tragedy represented under the awe-inspiring aura of hyper realistic CGi animation.
This is actually what divinely shapes Jibaro as an overwhelming story, the shortest and yet some the most intense secrets Netflix has released in the third volume of Love, Death + Robots.
A heavily armored army crossing a forest that seems anything but peculiar unprecedented encounters something horrifically enchanting.
There are screams of a mysterious woman who is discovered, smoothly dancing on the surface of a heart shaped lake. She is dressed in bedazzling jewelry and her screams delivers a cast of frenzied surprise amid the soldiers. Except for the one remaining who seems to be deaf.
What then pursues in this grim fable is a battle that is witnessed on rivers, lakes, and on fallen leaves. The bejeweled Siren and the armored knight engage in esoteric moments of romance, love, and agony. It features a visually pleasing display that speaks of ballet dance, aggression, infatuation, and death.
Jibaro functions as a tragedy- that’s what its director says. It incites a multitude of questions in the mind of the viewer. Despite being a 15-minute animated short film, Jibaro conveys a lot much more than it shows in that stringent and ruthless time period. It’s been meticulously crafted as a story of envy, material wealth, and toxic love.
One of the most important things to discuss about is Jibaro’s hyper-realistic animation. We see an unusual evolution of hyper realization and its portrayal of the characters. All the dances and moves were conducted by the laudable team of Sara Silkins which then were put under the curtain of the proverbial visual animation mechanics. It turned out surprising and creepy, yet realistic.
The army armored has been crafted as massively ornamented with glistening metals and well embroidered pieces of clothes donned spectacularly by their popes and horses. Someone with a knowledge of history would assume that the dress theme has been inspired by the grand renaissance movement, because it is.
The director Alberto also spent around two weeks in a forest taking pictures that would be used as an inspiration for the venue of Jibaro’s forest. A key essence in Jibaro is the functioning of nature. The ethereal depiction conveys the aspect of smoothly complimenting the aura and the theme that sets Jibaro to life Infront of our eyes.
Camera Choreography deserves much applause here despite the frequent transitions to dizzying movements. Alberto sight is well depicted through his mastery and one gets to witness the intense frenzy that beholds that day in the forest. Each scene is adorned with piercing tunes to intensify multiple scenes such as that of death and the interactions of the Siren and that one remaining deaf soldier.
Alberto’s love for the Lense is very apparent in the short film. We can relish and savor the characters indulged in romance with the lens, creating an aura that would control our vision like never before.
Captivating sounds embrace Jibaro, carrying it to intense heights and deep within our hearts. The curated collection of music eloquently speaks for the characters, compliments the narrative and superbly flirts with the environment depicted, whether it be the screams of the Siren or the sounds of the forest while making it alive.
Jibaro has a core message, of tragedy and unrequited love, which can be dangerous. No love is more pernicious than the one which is one sided and Jibaro shows this with much wit and aesthetics. The narratives are rich in history and often disappoints us with a number of unanswered questions about their history. This is a serious plot and involves much focus to observe rather than just to be thrilled.
Jibaro and siren both have fallen for one other but all for the wrong reasons. The message speaks of toxicity that can develop in a relationship as well as the lust for all the material things for which a person can become worse than a ravaging animal. While siren wrongfully assumes the armored knight to be her true love, the latter is only enchanted because of the jewels and gems that make up the siren’s spirit.
“I want it to be uncomfortable and not a beautiful fairy tale” -the Spanish director explains in another interview.
Jibaro culminates in a way as to leave us tackling with curiosity. And that’s the quintessential beauty of it. The short video presents itself in the most satisfying manner and stands as a statement against the underestimation of Netflix’s choice of content.
A hauntingly beautiful story, Jibaro explains well through arguably all the languages of aesthetics and visual communications. The project starts with an awe and surprise and seamlessly ends with bangs of anguish and sorrow.
Love, Death + Robots Volume 3 is currently streaming and can be watched on Netflix.