6 min. / no dialog / Director: Sieglinde Hamacher / DEFA Studio for Animation Films
In this episodic and roughly-drawn short set to moody synth music, a mountain comes to life and throws boulders at a nude man who is hiding in a cave. He runs away but cannot avoid the rocks. The mountain deity points to a peak and the man begins to roll one of the boulders toward it. He struggles mightily; the boulder falls back over him and rolls down the hill. He tries again. This time the boulder comes to life — it has a face. The man pushes it more easily, but the boulder tricks the man and rolls back down the hill. Now the man has grown older; he has a beard. He begins again with the personified boulder. They rest and the man wipes sweat from his own face as well as the boulder’s. The boulder smiles as it rolls down again and the man follows behind. The man’s beard grows long and he acquires a cane, but now he easily rolls the boulder up the hill. They seem to enjoy working together and the boulder aids the man in his efforts, even helping him up the hill at times. The man finally succeeds in getting the rock to the top, and celebrates for a moment before it falls screaming into a sea below. This upsets the man and we see him break down in tears. The film ends with the man rolling a new boulder up the hill as the credits roll.
Duo Sonnenschirm wrote the script for this short animated film from “the deep GDR times.” It varies somewhat from the film. Read it here: https://www.duosonnenschirm.de/textarchiv_zwo/sisyphos.php
Animated Antiquity 