Editors Note: “Price is Right” is a running column from local film enthusiast Mr. Price. He reviews selected Strasburg Film Festival films. If he posts a negative review, then the Shenandoah Film Collaborative will respond within his reviews as to why we selected the certain film. By going about it this way, we can help ensure the reader that these are honest film reviews.
“Prychynna: The Story of Love”, as the title suggests, explores the idea of love and the challenges to that love, in the form of loss brought about by war. The film also stands as an example of the artistry possible in animation that simply cannot be reproduced in any other medium.
Every frame of “Prychynna” is a work of art, its watercolor-style visual design elegant and beautiful. The film’s style is uncomplicated, which is not to say it is simplistic. There is an economy of imagery at work which emphasizes everything shown in the frame. The warm scenes of two lovers looking into each others’ eyes are contrasted sharply by dark images of the aftermath of war. Contrast is on display endlessly in the film, from the haunting score to the scenes of our protagonist, small and bright against a backdrop of grey ruin. It is from this contrast, and the obviously lovingly-crafted nature of each second of the film, that “Prychynna” draws the weight of its “story of love” without the need to utter a word.
