Silhouette Animation: 'The Other Gods - A Tale from the Dream Cycle' by Peter Rhodes and H.P. Lovecraft

Further to my earlier post on silhouette animation, I just discovered The Other Gods: A Tale from the Dream Cycle (1924) which is believed to have been lost but is recently restored. It is adapted from a short story by H. P. Lovecraft and the animation was facilitated by Peter Rhodes.



Broadly, this 5-minute animated film is about a man who is learned in the lores of gods. He wants to look upon the faces of gods, though it may be blasphemy to do so. And while he looks upon the gods to whom he pays a pilgrimage, another group of gods came...

I would recommend you all to have a look at it. It is a gem that is something of a precusor to Tezuka Osamu's Kanashimi no Belladonna (1973), at least in terms of its depiction of psychedelic esctasy.

It makes me want to read more of H.P. Lovecraft's stories, and I would also love to discuss The Other Gods behind a spoiler curtain.

Comments

[Snoop']

Nice stuff. The music is brilliant, especially when the gods of the outer hells come.

[Wabisabi]

But think of the many interpretations that are possible for this 5-min film...

I think the gods of the outer hells are actually devils, so when the man sees gods (who look uncannily like devils or aliens anyway), he also sees the devils. As above, so below.