The God (2003) User Reviews

The problem of freedom of speech is difficult

[mwg-862-271220 · 5/10 · 14 February 2014]

This is a nonsense film. An Indian god is bothered by a fly. He is weary of the fly and tries to crush it. The first thing I want to say is it is better not to use the gods as material for amusement films. It may turn out that some religious people who watch this film dislike it. If those who made this film aren't Hindu, they should respect the beliefs of others, so to use the gods as the material for the films is inadvisable. If a Hindu watches this film, he or she may get very angry. I think that the idea of using a motionless thing such as a statue or a doll is not so bad, so I can't understand the necessity to use the god. Surely the scene that his many arms do him a disservice is in this film, but it doesn't matter that it is not the god but the doll of the spider. Perhaps the producer thinks that it is funny that a god has trouble with the existence of a fly. However the producer should know that he or she loses something in exchange for their fun.

Not too great of a story

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 28 July 2016]

"The God" is a 4-minute animated short film from Russia. Don't worry though, there is no dialogue in here, so you won't need any subtitles. The man who made this is Konstantin Bronzit and the year is 2003, which means he had none of his now two Academy Award nominations at that point. The story is very simple. An Indian deity is disturbed by a fly and she tries to catch and kill her with all her arms, but the fly is simply too quick. That's all there is to it. Bronzit tried to make it more interesting with some major plot events (like at the very end), but it's still not an interesting film and should have run for 2 minutes max. The animation is pretty good though. I am glad Bronzit stepped things up since then and the awards prove. I cannot recommend the watch here though. Go for one of his later works.

And now....

[lakens · 8/10 · 20 April 2006]

for something completely different. That's probably what Bronzit thought when starting this short animations. Unlike SwitchCraft or Au Bout Du Monde, this movie contains no drawings. It's a stop-motion film, but might even be better then his previous short animations.

Starring a statue of a Hindu god (I'm not too familiar with that pantheon, so excuse me for not knowing who exactly) and a fly, this is a short story in the category David and Goliath, or in this case, a many-handed god and a fly. The statue's movements are extremely well done (the fly's less so, but oh well) and the movie is pretty funny (sometimes the humor isn't that intelligent maybe, but funny nonetheless). The sound is of high quality as well, really adding to the movie (unlike previous films as well). If you get the chance to see this, you really should.

This one got awards in the west???

[perkyandhappy-44230 · 1/10 · 7 November 2019]

Why would they even pull up a hindu God revered by millions of people in the world and obviously the creator has no idea about to make this offensive content? I wonder if they did the same content with Jesus, would this still receive all these awards from west?

While this might possibly offend some Hindus, it is a lovely film...

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 10 September 2009]

This is an amazingly pretty piece of computer generated animation. What surprised me about this is that it was directed by Konstantin Bronzit--a Russian animator who has long used traditional hand-drawn cartoons. It's a pretty radical departure making a CGI film and I was very impressed that the quality was amazingly good.

Before I begin, I should point out that there are probably a lot of Hindus out there that would be offended by this cartoon. After all, the god Shiva (one of the holiest and most revered of the the gods in Hinduism) is the subject of this humorous cartoon! Keep this in mind before you decide to watch it.

The film shows Shiva in a very traditional representation--in bronze and standing within a circle of bronze flames. Suddenly, a fly lands on Shiva's arm--one of many arms to be exact. Slowly, the bronze statue comes alive and swats the fly--missing again and again and eventually smashing the bronze circle. It's all pretty dry but very funny. I liked it and was impressed by the effort. Too bad they had to pick on Shiva--especially since according to Hindu lore, this is NOT a god to offend!

deeply offended by film

[xzyxzyxzy · 1/10 · 21 February 2015]

Being a hindu got deeply offended by film!

The film shows hindu god shiva in inappropriate (making fun) manner. The same plot could have been completed using some other character.

I don't understand why the writer/director selected this particular idol/god? How this plot came to his mind? What exactly he is trying to convey here? The part where his hands are shown in nose and below waist part is most offending..

Offending religious sentiment of any group should be avoided. I request writer/director/producer to avoid contents offending any religious group in his future films. I also request him to correct this problem by releasing modified version of this film.

Wishing him all the best for his future films!

A clever CGI animation

[Rectangular_businessman · 8/10 · 15 December 2012]

"The God" was a pretty clever and well done animated short, which, despite being humorous I don't consider it to be offensive at all.

Instead of that, it works with an ironic premise, having as the main character bronze statue of the Hindu deity, Shiva (The personification of calmness) being irritated by one fly.

The gags from "The God" reminded some classic cartoons from the Golden Age of Animation, which used slapstick as the main source for comedy (Think about cartoons like the Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry) I see this as a tribute to those animations.

"The God" was a funny and well animated short which definitely worth a look.

only a question of perspective

[Kirpianuscus · 1 November 2017]

only a question of perspective separates the amusement by the offense in this case. and not only for a Hindu viewer. because it is easy to see the god of destruction in the middle and deep angry, using entire body against a fly. and the final spider could be inspired metaphor for the fall of religion. or for the replacement of an old god. but, in same measure, for Bronzit is a game with fire. not only for the status of delicate subject for each irony exercise against religious believes but for the limits between a nice animation and a sacred taboo. the film reminds , in soft manner, the style of Charlie Hebdo. or the reincarnation of terrible Shiva. but the subject remains bizarre. and this is the only significant fact for me.