At one point in this film the words “estamos a tiempo” appear, which roughly translate to “in due time.” Water Ashes is very much about there being a season for all things, as is written in Ecclesiastes (and sung about by the Byrds.) This lively animation is childlike and yet powerfully affirming in its love of all life on Earth. The images blend together to tell a simple story of how life is a cycle, but it reminded me of the profound closing dialog of one of my favorite films, Cloud Atlas.
To paraphrase, none of us are more than a drop in an endless ocean, but what is an ocean if not a multitude of drops? Water is representative of life and ashes are the remains, or memories of life lived.
Director Katalin Egely uses the most primitive drawings and melds them into a magical three- and one-half minutes. Also, the music by El Buho & Nita (as listed in the credits) is especially wonderful for being so well synchronized with the animation, and its almost danceable. Egely did an excellent job of plotting out her vision and making it work with her soundtrack, which may seem easy to an audience jaded by nearly a century of Disney products, but animators know the truth. Water Ashes is delightful and if we, the viewers wish that it lingered a bit longer so that we could revel in its creativity a little more, we are grateful for the journey it takes us on.
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