Clevercell Very disappointing...

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Lee Eisenberg Winsor McCay's 1918 cartoon "The Sinking of the Lusitania" was designed to make the US population enter World War I. Every war's gotta have a pretext. The world has spent the past year remembering the global conflict, and the Lusitania got sunk 100 years ago this month. Most important is that World War I set the stage for much of what happened during the 20th century. In addition to the millions of people lost to the war, the Turkish army massacred almost half of Armenia's population. The terrible conditions in Russia combined with conscription led to the 1917 revolution. The Versailles Negotiations led to the Third Reich (caused by the reparations imposed on Germany) and the Vietnam War (Woodrow Wilson's refusal to listen to a young Ho Chi Minh). And then there's the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which led to the current mess in the Middle East.Anyway, it's a well done cartoon. It's always neat to see the relics of early cinema, and especially the animation. Worth seeing, understanding that it's propaganda cartoon.

Michael_Elliott The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918) *** (out of 4) This WWI propaganda piece is from Winsor McCay, the famed animator who decided to use his skills and so something quite different. This film documents the German attack on the Lusitania ship, which was carrying 2000 people when it was hit by a couple torpedoes and sank fifteen-minutes later. The film clocks in at twelve-minutes and the animation is used to show what happened and then we're given actual footage talking about how evil Germany is and we also have a brief tribute to some of the men who were lost. This is a fairly interesting film on many levels but the biggest is because of all the fire and passion that McCay brings to the material. There's no doubt that this was a very personal film to him and he clearly makes his feelings known by attacking Germany on pretty much every level. There's no question that the gloves are off as the title cards are quite damning to the actions that were done that day. The animation of the boat sinking is quite simple on one hand but I'd argue there are still some very striking moments here. I think the greatest are the shots of the ship and the smoke coming from it. The long, complete shots of the ship are quite striking in their animated form and just watch the way that the smoke comes off of it. The previously mentioned tribute shows some of the famous people that died on the ship, which was somewhat questionable and especially since none of the other victims are even mentioned and no tribute is given to them. With that said, this is still very much worth seeing just for the passion that it displays.

tavm I saw two versions of this Winsor McCay animation of this historic incident of the early 20th century: one on YouTube (which linked from tvdays.com) and one on Google (which now also links YouTube). The one from YouTube had a big bombastic score that seemed too much and was also a little cheery in spots. Also, the picture filled the whole screen which made some things on screen impossible to see like some of the wording of photos of famous dead people from the sinking (also obscured by "tvdays.com" on screen at all times). On Google, however, the picture was framed enough to view all the way to the last margin on screen and had a suitably somber piano accompaniment throughout. Anyway, what great detail McCay gave to the sinking, the lowering of the lifeboats, the moving ocean, and the two explosions along with the final shot of the water spewing for the last time after the ship goes down for good. Since there seems to be no photographic evidence of this historical event elsewhere, this should be enough visual recording of the disaster for anyone interested in early 20th century history. Highly recommended also for serious animation buffs.

Puppetmister Animation historians must view this film immediately, but I suppose if you can find one McCay cartoon you can find them all - they're compiled on the 'Animation Legend' video and DVD. 'Lusitania' is the film where McCay tries to escape the caricatural confines of the animated picture to produce a serious and moving film, and damn, he succeeds. The meticulous care which he put into the thousands of drawings necessary for this short cartoon meant that by the time it was finished, it was barely topical and WWI was over, leaving its calls for vengeance somewhat stranded. However, as a study of technique it is perhaps unsurpassed. McCay's animation has a dimensionality which is worlds apart from the character animation of Koko the Klown or Felix the Cat, perhaps a deliberate differentiation from such gentle entertainments. The grim monochrome images of the Lusitania's stern raised in the air while hundreds of people leap to their deaths while remind most audiences of shots from James Cameron's 'Titanic'. While the barely-concealed rage and maudlin tributes to the famous noblemen who died in the sinking (as opposed the penniless plebs who we can afford to forget) now appear unpalatably heavy-handed, the elegant curls of smoke from the stricken vessel are simply powerful cinematic touches which seal McCay's reputation as one of the great film artists of the silent era. If only he, and not Disney, had become the template for the future of American animation...