Mario

In an Italian playground, a song is sung that dates back to World War I. This paint on glass animation tells the dark tale of soldier who returns home from war to find that his girlfriend has left him.

Mario (Which actually translates as Everybody Calls Me Mario) absolutely fascinated me due to its manner of presentation when I first viewed it during the recent Bradford Animation Festival, and since then, I absolutely wanted to know more about it. For such a sweetly sung children's song, it is not long before you begin to notice the menacing undertones (Even a few notes already began to make my insides quiver as the short went on, and not just the rather specific lyrics) as you continue watching.

The visual style was decent enough, the animation was also fluid enough so that it flowed along with the song that was sung throughout. The paint on glass style definitely added to the seemingly innocent atmosphere at the beginning, and to the darker mood near the end.

Throughout the short, the audience sees everything through the eyes of the soldier, with his ex-girlfriend being his main focus. It is unclear as to what why it was that she had left him in the first place, seeing that everything is from the soldier's point of view, we never truly find out what her side of the story is. One could probably guess by then how warped the soldier's perspective might actually be (Especially when he saw that his ex was going out with four different people each time he returned) than what we initially believed.

The origins to this folk song remains mysterious, despite the summary provided, even Tess Martin, the creator of this short was unsure about whether this folk song started out in World War I or World War II. But it is however clear that the song references war and a specific battle, since then, this rather dark song has actually been sung by children in elementary schools (Getting some Ring Around the Rosie vibes here). And this one of many versions that Martin decided to use for her animation, making this song all the more mysterious.

I cannot necessarily say that this short was actually based on a true story (And from what I can see from the interview with Martin, this is pretty much a folk song that has continuously changed as time passed, with there being different lyrics and melodies depending on where you are), but it still feels like a powerful if not sad piece that shows what a soldier goes through during or after the war, it is not just on the battlefield where they will lose something precious, but also back at home which they once believed to be their only sanctuary...

The short could also be documenting the folk song itself, seeing as how children can be heard singing and how there is a show of clap games taking place now and then. Could this short also be referring to how unusually memorable these types of songs can be to children? They may remember the lyrics, but will never truly understand its meaning until much later (Much like Tess Martin did). It is almost haunting thinking how such sad tales can be passed down to children like this.