Our hatred destroys everything. Our hostility is a battle in the snowy desert. Our evil keeps us from falling apart even when the fight is over. It continues to live after us and paint its terrible red world, when there is no purpose, no faith, only dust.
In a rare action movie of the 90s, the maniac threw the boxing world champion the phrase: "You don't have the killer instinct!" Why is this instinct necessary when the body is trained, the mind is strong, and the hands are trained? A man endowed with this terrible quality, at a critical moment ceases to be a man, and turns into a soulless machine, designed only to carry death. What is not necessary for sport, clearly will not interfere in the situation of real hostilities. A veteran pilot is ready to put all his consciousness into the lever of the checker when he catches a target in front of him. It is not known what was more in the unsurpassed aces like Manfred von Richthofen or Ivan Kozhedub - training, courage or the very instinct of the killer, but one thing is certain: in the sky torn by flying wings, these people saw only their enemy and were free from thinking about the likelihood of defeat.
The production of Damien Nenov demonstrates a fragment of air combat, in which pilots converge, ready to naturally gnaw at the helm and break the checker button in the desire to destroy the enemy. Designed in the spirit of comics, the short film “Ways of Hate” shows the rapidity of the transformation of the pilot into a brutal savage, whose mind is clouded by a thirst for blood. Precisely stamped on the stamping machine, gaping holes on the hulls, countless bullets whistle in the air, but the planes are still intact and the battle is not in sight of the end. Threateningly blink the lamps of the fuel scale, the ammunition is running out, but it does not matter to militant pilots. The enemy is alive and must be exterminated! At any cost, though all the shells lime, at least to take a battering ram, if necessary. What crazy instincts reign in the minds of soldiers? Is it just loyalty to the oath and orthodox service to the homeland? Not only that.
Although not in the most familiar animated performance for the viewer, the Polish director had a very spectacular and stunningly dynamic fight, but regardless of its likely outcome, he does not dominate the cartoon. Unrestrained rage, cheekbone anger, incinerating anger and thirst for blood reign at this cruel ball. Pilots have no names, their titles are unknown, they are ruthless with touching symbols of civil life that once occupied a prominent place in the cockpit of each, and the world shrivelled to the size of an aviation silhouette is filled with crimson-red. The longer the firefight lasts, the more the vessel of rage in each of the belligerents is filled. Equality of forces plays into the incitement of hatred, and at some point everything material disappears in this shocking sketch. Geometric figures are close to Damien Nenova, with their help he tries to find the most suitable definition of human aggression, but that is only part of the director’s plan. In fact, the form worries the Pole more content, and therefore his characters look so grotesquely insane. Precisely drunk bowls of poisoned wine from the legends of Bacchus, the people at the helm are no longer soldiers. They are the worst nightmares that don’t belong in the cockpit. The thirst for blood shown on the screen is further and further away from the killer instinct and closer to the gloomy display of the absolute evil that is any war.
The striking color contrast between the beginning of the cartoon and its end embodies directorial pessimism about a person’s ability to remain himself in critical moments. Damien Nenov does without chanting an ode to war, but calls for an understanding of the human essence, which is undergoing a severe test. Is there hope for those who have walked the path of hate and stayed in life? Otherwise, the term “lost generation” would never have taken root. What happened in the past does not necessarily have to happen in the future. Ultimately, any war must someday end, and hatred can find another way out, not aimed at the barbaric destruction of life.
9 out of 10
How many times you see him, so many times you will kill him.
White snowy ground. A white labyrinth of clouds above her. Two long tracks from propellers are like ropes of giant swings, on which in the distance (bottom? top?) swings, writes out loops of a tiny plane. The wings, delineated with clear graphite contours, are dotted with painted holes from bullets: in the midst of an air battle. Silhouettes, profiles, blueprints, quiet pulsating bit. Not yet fallen, coloring the frame scarlet, materializing it, the first bloody drops, still clamped in the hand rosary and looking from the dashboard old photo. The path of hate is just beginning.
Damian Nenova’s short tape is primarily fascinating with its complex rhythm, whimsical teasing amplitude of tension. The deliberate schematicity of the graphics of the first frames knocks out the support from under the feet, deprives the viewer of a reason for sympathy, not allowing the cartoon to be perceived as an ordinary military drama. Gradually, in waves, the realism of color and textures grows, the scenery acquires three-dimensionality, but only to help us rise from one level of unreality to another: the faces of the pilots are showered with shards, infernal masks are seen from under them, and the white empty sky is poured with a venous painful scarlet. The eclectic soundtrack is deliberately contrasted: the most visually tense moments are permeated with the melancholy of the cello, bringing out a cold “cosmic” theme, but here the opponents diverge, shrillly squeal the electric guitar, the thunder of drums increases and ... only the roar of the motor, only white noise in the receiver ... only silence, just laid the ears from a sharp loss of height ... These constant metamorphoses hold the attention, create the illusion of continuous, laying steep turns of action, despite the fact that the scenario situation practically does not develop: all the same craving for mutual murder is the plot, and its culmination, and the final morality.
And yet there really is a movement here: secret, hidden. The cartoon distinguishes attention to psychological nuances, the ability to capture significant details. Heroes are nameless, even devoid of personal traits: the subject of observation is not they, but hatred itself, not taken as a given, but really tracked in its path. When do we really start to hate? When we find a mortal enemy in the enemy and rush to him, merging two lives into one red line? Then, when we get up on orders from the airfield? Or later, when the fuel is running out, when the ammunition runs out, the engine stalls, and the grin of unbearable tension turns into a demonic grin? The amulets associated with the past life lose their significance, there is no past life, only this endless battle in which it is impossible to win, from which it is impossible to escape, and this bitter taste of rage in the mouth. It remains only to fly towards the enemy, to flee, to crawl from the last strength in deep snow, and then, when the forces leave and the breath is interrupted, in eternity to reach for his throat with knuckles of decayed fingers, while the globe indifferently substitutes the sides of the sun, and the shadows from the oils rotate, like the arrows of a huge dial.
Going beyond a specific history through ascent to the eternal pantry of archetypal subjects in itself hints at morality. And under these conditions, it is very easy to mistake Nenov’s work for another call to say goodbye to the weapon before it turns its muzzle to the shooter. But the song on the credits clearly hints that it is not so simple, and this cartoon is not chamomile inserted into the mouth of a tank gun. The animator shows without embellishment the destructive nature of hatred, the irrevocability of this path, but at the same time sees it eternally existing, accompanying our family from the cradle, indestructible. On dragon wings lifting a man above himself for a moment.
As for short films, sooner or later, personal taste is also developed.
For me, Paths of Hate turned out to be a predictable but flawlessly executed job. From the story immediately becomes clear what to expect. Two pilots try to shoot each other down in every way possible, their hatred knows no bounds. All, then it is clear that one way or another they must get to each other, go beyond the possible and cross the line of any morality.
Another thing is how the author’s imagination is masterfully traced, because hatred pushes pilots to a feat that contradicts the rule of surrender when there are no more forces. Their determination to destroy one another is striking. And just as amazingly managed to draw their destruction by themselves. After all, hatred never leaves anyone alive: it is infinite.
Animation - it really should have clinged to the short film, and, I must say, succeeded. Although the animation itself does not appeal to me - some mixing of a computer game with anime. But the struggle itself develops very commendably, the bloody colorfulness of which goes beyond the usual ideas about it. Thank you for that.
Very and very good animated action short, there is something to see, to think about. The above-mentioned plot predictability is perfectly compensated by the actual staged approach and the versatility of the above meaning. “Ways of Hate” more than deserve a firm assessment.
7 out of 10
Many years ago, when I was just beginning to get into the enchanting world of 3D graphics, one of the motivators for this case was Katedra, whose director acts as a producer in Paths of Hate. Becoming an animator, of course, did not inspire - but appreciated the very impulse of people to put so many ideas into a pile of hard work with basic tools, to get so much unusual style on the output. Then a couple of years later he noted Fallen Art and Arc. Then I realized that a certain circle of Polish animators every couple of years collects the most prestigious award in the industry. The style of performance turned out to be different, but the short film and the very way of investing is not entirely understandable but such a memorable feeling in the film has already become a brand for the Poles.
The most pleasant thing is that 3D never resembles plastic plush gum, from which 90% of animations are now made. Perhaps because of a general predilection for some "grungeness", destruction and apocalypticity. “Ways” is generally closer to traditional animation due to technical solutions in processing: originally it was planned to bring them closer to classic comics, old film, military chronicles. And, as always, the perfect hit.
Oh, well, there's an idea in the plot. It would be weird without her. But, just like Katedra, Arc, and everything else, everyone deduces it for himself from the sensations of what he saw. It’s nice, you know, to feel like it took a pretty deep thought out of the movie for yourself, that the director didn’t chew it for you for 10 minutes. This allows the viewer to participate in some way.
“Paths of Hate is already on hand” – immediately interested in the title.
After watching the cartoon, which lasts some 10 minutes, I was impressed ...
If you take for a primitive drawing - the animation is cool, not ordinary, interesting, pleasant, beautiful.
Let's dig a little deeper and here's the plot.
Hate... Hate... Shown in its entirety on the example of two pilots personifying not only the military, but people as such.
Most people don’t like people... Let's face it - they hate it. Otherwise, everyone would have lived long ago in peace and harmony. There are so many different people in our world – so much hatred that overwhelms them.
But when viewing this work, the question arises: “What is the meaning of this hatred?” In this case, it is difficult to imagine any reason – why they hate each other so much that they are willing to put their lives on the line, as long as the other also loses it. One was told to attack, the other was told to defend, and if you can find something worth defending, it’s hard to find what’s worth attacking.
I don't think these pilots would hate each other, don't tell them who decided they should hate each other. Should they? You have to? Do we all? Do you have to?
And what do we all end up with? Of course it's just hatred... Even if we are happy as long as we are children, then we get the hatred of others.
Will we pass it on?
Hatred corrodes the soul - it is not fitting to poison your own soul. Neah.
To begin with.
If you are not a lover of short films, you should still definitely watch it.
Plot.
The plot is simple. As I understand it, the event of time takes place in World War II. A group of fighter pilots of the American and German armies are fighting each other. After a while, only two pilots remain alive in the sky. Both critically ran out of gas. They could just go back to the base and decide a draw, but spitting on it, they decided to go to the end.
After reading the comments and watching this short film in KinoBanda, I thank some users that they helped me draw attention to the cartoon, after watching which I do not regret. First, we need to figure out whether the “Ways of Hate” genre of drama deserves. Yeah. True, you need to tell in the section "Characters", but you need to pay attention to the meaning.
All this time, looking at the duel of two pilots, the theme of the cartoon about hate is still well shown here. Can you be human if you hate anything? Nope. Because Rage, Anger, Hate, Anger, poisons the soul and kills the mind. They do not make a person happy, but only pull out of the deepest, seemingly bottomless abyss of the soul, chained in the shackles of demons. I remember another quote, "If you don't know the past, you'll live it again," which is closely related to bloodlust. They used to fight, now they fight and will fight, and kill for the sake of miserable lands (only if not all), principles, money, pride, revenge, patriotism, forgetting human values like love, religion, humanity and life. And if you're going to argue with me, argue with the words of Natsu from the anime series "Fairy Tail"; "Life" is not some bullshit to throw it away. It's hard to argue with those words. The result of everything that happened with both pilots, the ending, which can easily and clearly make yourself.
Plot: 1.8 points.
Characters.
American and German. Both soldiers. The first one holds a cross on his hand, the second, in his fighter cabin, a photo of his beloved. But they lost their meaning when they both came together in a duel of anger. To better understand that they had lost their humanity, halfway through the film, the creators decided that it would be better if symbolically they showed their faces beginning to crumble like a very fragile and old vase. And from their faces, they show their true, dark appearance.
Characters: 1.7 points.
Animation.
She's good. Perfectly drawn with pencil emotions of pilots. And many different, but folding from each other effects. Thanks to them, the cartoon deservedly justifies the genre of the action movie. Exciting, fascinating, dynamic, spectacular, interesting, crazy, bloody, dark and philosophical.
Animation: 2.2 points.
Soundtrack.
The track selection isn't bad. Short films are usually accompanied by a composition or music, not a song. And here is a similar song played at the end, well emphasizing its sound ending.
Soundtrack: 1.6 points.
The last one.
I advise everyone to look, but not children of age, probably not younger than 13. This is a very good short story with meaning.