CGI 3D Animation Short Film HD 'POILUS' by ISART DIGITAL | CGMeetup

The “Poilus” are waiting to leave for the battlefield.
Among them, Ferdinand, a young hare, is playing the harmonica.
A whistling signal is given, the attack begins.
It’s on the no man’s land that he first encounters his enemy, a horrible creature.

3D Animation : Guillaume AUBERVAL, Léa DOZOUL, Simon GOMEZ, Timothé HEK, Hugo LAGRANGE, Antoine LAROYE and David LASHCARI
Music & Sound Design : Aina ANDRIAN, Paul BARRET, Gabriel DALMASSO, Auriane FATON, Elio GERMANI and Lesly VERDEROSA

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CGI 3D Animation Short Film HD "POILUS" by ISART DIGITAL | CGMeetup

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[CaptVimes]

During WW1, The French Infantry were referred to as Poilu. Literally meaning "Hairy one". They are depicted in this short as "Rabbits" or "Hares" as a play on words. The reason for the French Commander's intolerance towards the melody being played is because it is "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven. A German tune by a German composer.

[vyzeinc.]

Everyone seems to miss the moral and is just focused on the fact that everyone’s a bunny. The film is meant to give us a first person glimpse on war. When the bunny comes across a monstrous shadow, that’s the bunny’s perspective of the enemy. But once the bunny shoots the enemy, it’s soon found out that the ‘monster’ is just another bunny, just like our hero in this film. The monster was just the way the enemy was portrayed to the bunny. This is meant to tell us that although there are enemies in war, they are ultimately just people like us in the end.

[scheisseman]

This new rabbitfield 1 trailer looks cool!

[randomguyontheinternet]

“War is young men dying and old men talking”

-Franklin D. Roosevelt

[dimitrypetrenko]

"In war, there are no winners, Just Survivors."

[Val]

Here's my interpretation of the story.

It begins with our protagonist, a young soldier playing with his harmonica in the trenches. Rabbits in many cultures are associated with innocence and naivety, aligning how the protagonist, along with his many fellow soldiers, are young and ignorant to the big picture, which is backed by how young men between the ages 18~26 were drafted for WW1 & WW2.

We then see the older Commander ordering his troops to attack, his shredded ear hinting this wasn't his first battle, and likely not his last. The mentioned commander spots our protagonist and crushes his harmonica, possibly symbolizing the hopes and dreams of the young people that were destroyed from an older generation's desire for war, as our protagonist likely dreamed to be a musician but was drafted into the war against his will.

In the next intense scene, we see our protagonist running away from the horrifying enemy, running and shaking as they honed their crosshairs and shot at it as soon as they could. This could symbolize how distorted and brainwashed our perception of other side becomes when we become exposed to propaganda, wether from the media or the government itself, viewing the opposition as unrecognizable monsters who need to be slain, and anyone who does is considered a hero.

The final, most important scene in my opinion, our protagonist pulls the trigger and kills the "monster", returning him from delusion and sees the "monster" was a merely a rabbit like him, a rabbit no older than him, a rabbit who seemed to have shared a passion with him, as they clutched their own harmonica in their dead hands. Our protagonist picks up the fallen rabbit's harmonica and begins playing, "Ode to Joy", as all the other young soldiers hears the melody and lowers their guns down, before our protagonist's commander, angered, orders his soldiers to fire at their comrade, continuing the battle. This entire scene represents the tragedy that war truly is, how it shreds thousands of possible friendships, as shown when the rabbit our protagonist killed, also had their own harmonica, a common passion both rabbits could've bonded over if they were under normal circumstances. And "Ode to Joy", the melody our protagonist played with his fallen "enemy's" harmonica, a song composed by Beethoven that spoke how peace and compassion overcomes war, tell us how our protagonist feels towards this entire war, how he realized they're all the same, they all have dreams to fulfill, lives to live, families to return to, and that all this war doing is robbing everyone of those precious blessings in exchange for blind hatred and bloodshed. The rest of the soliders lowering their weapons hinting the rest had realized it too, but soon continue under the orders of their older commanders, representing how older generations don't wish to change, not desiring to change their flawed views, even at expense of the younger generations' lives.

[marcint]

My interpretation:
The main character is afraid of german soldiers for obvious reasons (eg. war propaganda ) and when he's attacked by one of them he sees the enemy as a horryfing monster. However after killing the german soldier he realizes that it wasn't a monster. It was another rabbit, just like him. Moreover he also played harmonica. Under other circumstances they could have been friends. He decides to play a melody to honor the fallen enemy. The melody does something unexpected: it unites both sides for a short moment ( you can see that german soldier at 3:23 was probably aiming at the protagonist but didnt shoot ). The melody from 3:27 is beginning of ode to joy, anthem of the European Union which unites Europe nowadays. However on war there is no place for such beautiful ideas as unity, so main character is killed by french officer for desertion and the war proceeds as it did before. War doesn't accept ideals

[OlliLow]

I`m German Soldier. Everytime I see this great animation, film, I must cry. Its so good this film and I hope all war on the world would be stop. Ich bin ein deutscher Soldat. Jedesmal wenn ich diese Animation sehe muss ich weinen. Ich hoffe, dass alle Kriege auf dieser Welt enden würden.

[manamans]

The real monster is not war. The monsters are the people who decide to wage it.

[hopethisnamesnottaken]

"He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace" - J.R.R. Tolkien, a WWI veteran

[equusamans]

In German, we have the word "Angsthase" (engl. scaredy-cat), which literally means scared rabbit. To me, this short illustrates that men are often very scared of each other (sometimes rightfully so). In the minds of opponents they each appear as a towering threat striking fear into the hearts turning them into scared rabbits. Each side is so afraid of each other, so in the end, they are all just scared rabbits. And that fear makes them susceptible to manipulation by war mongerers.

[brycevo]

The Horrors of the Great War. It was a bloody war fought using old tactics during a modern war. This Year marks the 100th anniversary of the Armistice.

[mateoescalante]

what Judy Hopps REALLY ment when she said they had a dark history:

[levimcgowan]

This is the second CGI film involving rabbits and guns I've watched on youtube this week.

[blacklight]

My Favorite cgi of all times, I don't the remember number of times returning to rewatch it again. Isart Digital, you did an amazing job!

[reke]

Came for the bunny, left with the feels :(

[Giifgaaf]

Everybody gangster until Peter rabbit gets drafted.

[lililamontagne]

Merci pour ce magnifique d'animation. Très émouvant. La première guerre mondiale, celle des gueules cassées qui a fait non seulement des milliers de morts, mais des blessés graves et des gens qui sont devenus carrément fous.

[Oregonxsaint]

In war, there is no "good" vs "evil"; there are only men fighting for an opposing cause. The Soldiers don't care about politics during a battle, all they care about is protecting their comrades in arms so they can live to see civilian life once more. The man/woman you just killed on the battlefield could have been an old friend from your childhood or a total stranger, in that moment, it doesn't matter. You have to do what you have to in order to ensure the safety of your unit.
The moment that you lose that mentality, is the moment that you would break down and realize the nightmare that is war.

[A_Bagel]

That gunshot after the bunny was playing "Ode to Joy" made my heart explode