"Le concert de M. et Mme. Kabal" or "The Concert of Mr. and Mrs. Kabal" is a 6.5-minute animated short film from 1962, so this one is already 55 years old almost. It's one of the many award-winning works by Polish filmmaker Walerian Borowczyk and I must say I am a bit shocked that this one here is not even a work from his early career. He was already pretty prolific and experienced when this one came out. It's another example of how disappointing the 1960s were in terms of (animated) short films after the Golden Age of Animation in the previous decades. Here we have a married couple giving a concert, the title already tells you. The music is also okay to listen to, but you can also just listen to a record for that. Animation and story were really weak. I don't recommend the watch. Thumbs down.
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Horst_In_Translation28 July 2016
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Michael_Elliott30 April 2017Le concert de M. et Mme. Kabal (1963)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Entertaining, if rather minor, animated short from Walerian Borowczyk has Mr. Kabal trying to put on a piano show but his incredibly ugly and ultimately bizarre wife keeps messing everything up. Plot-wise there's really not too much going on here but if you're a fan of the director's rather bizarre shorts then you'll at least want to check this out. I thought the animation itself was rather good and there's no doubt that the director was able to bring a rather strange atmosphere to the picture. The wife character was certainly very memorable and you can just imagine how bitchy she is and you're certainly thankfully that you're not tied to her. -
morrison-dylan-fan27 September 2020Taking a look at the shorts by auteur Walerian Borowczyk listed on the disc menu,one of the titles looked out of place. Checking the Arrow booklet,I found that they had forgot to list it! Leading to me playing this hidden gem.
View on the film:
Getting the Kabal's on stage years before they would become the main subject of his debut feature film Mr. and Mrs. Kabal's Theatre (1967-also reviewed) writer/director Walerian Borowczyk draws them in pen,rather then the thick felt tip pen style they would later be drawn with,giving the couple a softer appearance.
Departing from the cut-out style of his past shorts, Boro draws a early outline of macabre surrealism in his work,as Mr. Kabal dies on stage.