...I wish there were more proposals like this suitable for children. Above all, because it is very interesting from an artistic point of view. Also, because aesthetically and narratively it bears little resemblance to the predominant animation created for children. Sadly, it is not usual for filmmakers as personal as Koji Yamamura to dedicate a work to this area of the medium.
2021: Polar Bear Bears Boredom (Hokkyoku-Guma Suggoku Hima) | Animación para adultos | Ray Laguna | 2022 | Spain
[…] Yamamura seems to paint a gigantic cosmic freezeframe of suffering, where the more impotent the animation is, the more emergent will be result.
[…] In his filmic journey Yamamura offers up to us a Boschian anatomy of dreams, where the obsessive elements are able to create an iconic language that, in a little over one hour, we will be able to read.
FILMEXPLORER | Text: Giuseppe Di Salvatore | 10 September, 2022 | Switzerland
Another special mention went to Japanese star Koji Yamamura's first feature film (short, though, only an hour of time), Dozens of Norths (Ikuta no kita). And it, it must be said, made an utterly mesmerizing impression. The first thing that fascinated me was Yamamura's fantastic, subtle graphics, not unlike his most recent films, which were both surreal and absurd, or rather the movement of the film itself was absurd. …
Big Cartoon Festival Blog | Zagreb Festival 2022 Part 1 Winners | Dina Goder | July 2022 | Russia
Autre film venu du Japon, le court métrage de Koji Yamamura, « Parade » de Satie, illustration en dessin animé de la pièce musicale composée en 1916 par Erik Satie. Yamamura aussi s’intéresse à la France dans ce nouveau court, parsemant l’ensemble de citations en français de Satie, faisant intervenir artistes de la belle époque, de Cocteau à Picasso, et organisant son film en chapitres, comme l’était la musique. Mais surtout, il n’oublie pas que Satie, en plus de faire partie d’un renouveau du paysage musical du début du siècle, fut proche de l’esprit des avant-gardes comme les surréalistes. Sa musique, à la limite de l’atonal parfois, imprévisible et excentrique, est parfaite pour le style du cinéaste. Alignant des personnages ou objets absurdes et quasi pataphysiques, qu’il anime en rythme par rapport aux différents instruments joués dans le morceau, Yamamura s’amuse à réinventer un mouvement fantaisiste et coloré, complexe et épuré dans un univers connu mais méconnaissable.
Festival d'Annecy, jour 1 : périple asiatique | Revue 24 Images (Canada, Par NICOLAS THYS, 2016.06.13) >Site
Time construction within Koji Yamamura’s animation, Muybridge’s Strings
by
Tania de León Yong [4th Internationa Conferece in Illustration & Animation, 10-12 June 2016, Barcelos - Portugual]
Like seeing psychology with a convex lens ...
Koji Yamamura, who has been producing fruitful plays of “Mt. Head”, “The Old Crocodile"” and absurd drama, challenged Kabuka Honmaru. It uses a convex lens called animation to show the psychology of a person that no one in the world has ever tried. (Kihachiro Kawamoto Animation Artist 2007)
In our minds reading good fantasy stories, things are getting bigger and smaller, frightening and humorous. Koji Yamamura's work tells us that while animation can really do a lot, we only saw a part of it. Humor and fear, beauty and grotesque, profoundness and lightness are intensely mixed for 20 minutes! (Motoyuki Shibata, Professor, Translator, University of Tokyo 2007)
Joy, enjoyment, and laughter do not always occupy life. The pain, duty, harsh reality and sadness are waiting. If you can't help it, how can you decide on a path that doesn't break and walk? Kafka probably knew on the cobblestones of Prague. When facing life, the frozen hands are connected. Hand to connect. The body temperature born there is transmitted from the video of Director Yamamura. (Hajime Kajiwara, Editor-in-Chief of CUKR, Czech Information Magazine 2007)
Yurameki, Furueru Sekai by Doi obuaki Animations creators & critics 2007
"Komik des passiven Körpers: Yamamura Kôji Animationsfilm Kafka - Ein Landarzt (2007)" [Kawashima Kentaro, Körperinszenierungen im japanischen Film 2016]
Metamorphosis as Origin–Yamamura Koji’s Short Animation Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor [Kawashima Kentaro 2019]
Everything about loneliness in life is documented here. With this one book, you can destroy all your philosophy books. (Fuyuji Aida "invitation" September issue)
The acting and camerawork are up to Yamamura's usual fluid standard, and, at 13 minutes, it's much too short. (by Taylor Jessen, Animation World Network, April 2005, USA) >All review
Chris Grove, Animation Magazine, July 2005, USA
A work that will always be drawn into the light crocodile appearance. (Pickt Up OCT+NOV 2005 Japan)
Koji Yamamura's latest work, "The Old Crocodile" is filled with such primitive charm of animation, backed by delicate technical skills. (Ichiyuki Fukagawa "Esquire "Web Must See 2005 Japan)
"One book that touches the heart"( "The Old Crocodile" Yamamura Koji)>Kodomo no Hon on the Web
"The acting and camerawork are up to Yamamura's usual fluid standard, and, at 13 minutes, it's much too short."
by Taylor Jessen, Animation World Network(April 2005 USA) >Read all reviews(AWN) >QuickTime Clip (AWN)
If you want or need an antidote to the often predictable formulas of Hollywood studios animated fare, look no further than Yamamura Kojis pencil-drawn film The Old Crocodile. by Chris Grove, ANIMATION MAGAZINE (July 2005, USA)
Cortometrajes de Koji Yamamura: Mount Heady The Old Crocodile
Jubei Kibagami 2021.05.07, El Armario Animado >Site
The story that unfolds is surreal in nature, but the animation renders it quite riveting. >Nishikata Film Review
Unlike conventional anime where it comes to saving resources with images with very slow camera movements and limited animation, Yamamura animates every frame of his stories, and in addition to visual details, his stories do not present characters with superpowers or ancestral monsters, but they show a sad society with muted colors to indicate the lack of hope we have if we continue traveling along the same path. >ENFILME Cine Todo el Tiempo (Spanish)
The leading figure of his generation, Yamamura best represents the vitality, versatility and artistry of Japanese independent animation, and Mt. Head represents a pivotal point in an oeuvre that has drawn comparisons with influences as disparate as Paul Klee and Monty Python, while remaining true to its cultural roots. The tale of a stingy old man who plunges into madness after tearing out a cherry tree he discovers growing from his head from a pip he has swallowed, it provided the perfect taster to the director’s witty and often grotesque meditations on time, space and identity. >BFI
Upon first viewing Yamamura’s short, it initially seems to simply be a film focused on greed, but dig a little deeper and you’ll uncover various interpretations revolving around society and the environment. Combining wonderful technique, with a resonating, yet easily accessible story, it’s easy to see why Atama Yama has become a firm-favourite for many short film fans who have been lucky enough to see it on the festival scene. >FANTASY ABOUT TRANSFORMATION IN ANIMATION DIRECTED BY KOJI YAMAMURA: Rob Munday
Cortometrajes de Koji Yamamura: Mount Head y The Old Crocodile
Jubei Kibagami 2021.05.07, El Armario Animado >Site
"Keep it in Motion - Classic Animation Revisited: the Karo and Piyobupt trilogy" (By Chris Robinson, January 5, 2017, AWM.com)>Site
These ten thousand creatures If you can see everything, Pretty normal. Motoyuki Shibata (Translator)
These ten thousand creatures If you can see everything, Pretty normal. Motoyuki Shibata (Translator)
Kon Hon Yonde! Spring 2016 No. 58 "Did you read it ? New Picture Books100" Interview
Konohon Yonde! 2016 Spring No. 5: Readers like this picture book of 2015
Picture book text grand prize work publication failure of our child positively (2015.05.09 Yomiuri Shimbun evening edition)
[Critic review on children's literature] No.204 (Tanaka Hiko's e-mail magazine)
Picture Book for peace Morino Sakana(Monthly Pumpkin August 2014)
Written by Aya Saito
Iwanami Shoten
» amazon
Nichigai Associates
1997.04
» amazon