The Girl and The Siren

A young girl lives, parentless, in a Swedish sea port. In order to survive she works in a tavern run by a vicious one-armed brute. Yet, surrounded as she is by a life full of drudge and casual cruelty the girl retains her imagination – not to mention ambition.  Unsurprisingly, given her upbringing, she wants nothing more than to be a pirate and join the sea-faring rogues on their adventures. Yet who will take a young girl seriously? 

One evening, however, a seagull comes crashing through her bedroom window and a chain of events is set in motion – one which will change her life forever.

If you are a fan of stop motion animation then you will love The Girl and the Siren, directed and animated by Jacob Petersson and Cristoffer Ålund with production credits going to Jakob Arevärn.  Don’t be put off by the length – seventeen minutes is long for an animated short but this is one which will, if you are like me, bring you in to the story right from the beginning.  Please, too, don’t be put off by the subtitles you see in the first minute – they lay the scene and the vast bulk of the action is wordless.

What did I particularly like about The Girl and the Siren? Pretty much everything, but the overall design stands out – meticulous and evoking a whole old but new world in its attention to detail.  It is also very difficult to invest puppets with emotion but it is so well done here, a small tilt of the head and an entire range of emotions is conveyed. Go make a coffee (or beverage of your choice), get yourself comfortable and just enjoy this beautifully crafted adventure.