Life passes in a blink. And while we are involved in so many things we do not appreciate enough the little moments, which are really the great moments of life.
This video takes us in a trip through the memory of an old man, but it could be perfectly ours. The video was created by the Japanese Kunio Katō and won the Cristal Prize of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2008 and an Academy Award for the best animated short video in 2009.
The video is full of allegories, the protagonist encourages us to join him on the journey that leads him to dive into his memories. Insofar as the water suffocates his life, a metaphor that represents the time that escapes inexorably, evocations are transformed into an unstoppable torrent.
Each “cube” or brick of the house represent different periods of our lives. It is also a metaphor for how we were forced to build new realities to cope with the loss of people we love, that are no more with us. Each new level that adds the old man for not drowning and stay dry, is the way we cling to life and move on.
In fact, the fall of his favorite pipe through the trap door can represent that song, aroma or place that reminds us of a special person or a single moment. They are the unexpected flashes of memory to surprise us.
It is true that the video is steeped in nostalgia and is also likely to make us cry a little, but also reminds us that those so special moments or people have a safe place in our minds where, in a sense, are kept alive, a place where we can always come back, just as the German writer Jean Paul says: “Memory is the only paradise from which we can’t be expelled.”
In fact, sometimes it is good to soak into memories because they help us to appreciate more the moments that lie ahead and maximize the time we have with the people close to us.
In any case, I recommend you to see this video because it is a complex reflection as life itself. “La Maison en Petits Cubes” is our history.
