Though you've probably never heard of him before Japanese animator Koji Yamamura is a true icon within the animation world and living proof that Japan has far more to offer the animation world than typical, big eyed, big robot anime. The man was Oscar nominated for his short film Mt. Head not so long ago and now he's back with a twenty minute adaptation of Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor.
A hapless country doctor describes with breathless urgency a night-time summons to attend a young patient. Events soon take on a surreal aspect as "unearthly horses" transport him instantaneously to the bedside. The doctor, preoccupied with personal distractions and grievances against those he is employed to care for, fails to find what is revealed to be a vile, fatal wound. He is humiliated by the villagers who are "always expecting the impossible from the doctor," and doomed to an endless return trip, losing everything.
