Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
An animated film about the British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who spearheaded numerous engineering marvels of the early 19th century - including the Thames Tunnel, the Great Western Railway, and the Great Eastern steamship (for 40 years the world's largest steamship). Various styles of animation are used to depict events in his colorful life.
Great (1975) is a genuinely distinctive piece of animated documentary filmmaking, blending multiple animation styles in an inventive, irreverent way that feels entirely its own — earning its Academy Award nomination. The cinematography and visual design are remarkably varied and imaginative for a short film, deploying different aesthetic registers to match different episodes of Brunel's life. Novelty is high because this kind of playful, formally adventurous animated biography was and remains unusual. The plot is serviceable but episodic by nature, and the voice acting/narration, while energetic, is uneven. The ending wraps things up adequately but without particular punch.