The Lily of Belgium (1915)
When a young girl finds a beautiful dead lily in the woods, she asks her grandfather to tell her about it. The lily stands in splendour beside a stream, admired by the creatures of the woods. But an army of beetles, bent on conquering new territories, wants to cross the stream - and the lily is blocking their way. An unashamed allegory of the German rape of Belgium.
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"Liliya Belgii" or "The Lily of Belgium" is a 13-minute black-and-white silent film. This should not be a surprise to anybody as this one is from 1915, which means it is already over 100 years old. It is a Russian production that was released during the later days of World War I. The writer and director is successful Lithuanian filmmaker Wladyslaw Starewicz. In his other (short) films, he is mostly known for depicting animals mostly, but as you see from the title, this one here is about a plant, namely a lily. I like lilies and one of their most memorable aspects is their color and the lack of the color technology probably hurts the film a lot I guess. The story is not bad, but not really good either. The scenes with the grandfather and the young girl together were pretty nice and these are maybe the film's highlight. But overall, there weren't simply not enough convincing aspects in here to let me recommend the watch. One of my least favorite films I have seen so far from Starewicz.
This Wladyslaw Starewicz feature combines impressive animation with a worthwhile story. Although the story was particularly meant to make an impression on contemporary (mid-First World War) audiences, it still retains its effectiveness, and the animation has lost nothing, either.The story of "The Lily of Belgium" is one of Starewicz's stop-motion animation creations, here framed by brief live-action sequences involving a girl and her grandfather. The main story is a memorable allegory of the war and, in particular, of Belgium's fate in it. The animated insects and other creatures are convincing in their movements and in their details. The beetles with their assortment of vehicles and weapons are particularly interesting, and their parade to the battlefield would be hilarious if their intent were not so sinister.Starewicz's pioneering efforts are always interesting, and usually of high quality. This one is both, and it also has a worthwhile story that is no less so for using as its point of reference an event of so long ago.