Drafts !!!

Part 01- 1,000 Word (or equivalent) Critical Analysis.        1,243 words 

 

Jibaro and its expressive storytelling

Jibaro was able to hook me in right from the beginning, and I would like to express/analyse how invested I was in a short 17 minuet film on Netflix. Usually with engagement I find it hard to stay concentrated on something; But with the uses of colour, perspective, sound, movement and style used I managed to stay completely entranced by this short film. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(From a YouTube, Zima Blue, 2022, (0.38-0.39 seconds)

The first thing that I thought was the most prominent and the thing that got me the most hooked was the colours. I think the usage of shiny, reflective and rich colours for the golden woman in this film conveys the wanting and greed the male lead has for the siren woman; even though he is deaf and the song can’t affect him her body and her looks can. The contrast between the muddy grey colours the male lead has to the bright golden lady really pushes the rich and hard-working dynamic usually scene in things like movies with a princess and a knight. (for example, Rapunzel, 2014 the 2 main characters colour pallets match but highly contrast). Just from the first scene of their interaction you can see that her colours are almost making his colours brighter and the background becomes less of the focus as for a lot of the animation a lot of the different scene and bright colours are coming from the trees and the setting but I think it gets muddier when these too characters interact to emphasise their relationship in a strong visual way.

 I watched this interview done by IGN Movie Trailers on YouTube that interviewed the director Alberto Mielgo and he described the relationship between the 2 main characters as “The most toxic relationship you could imagine” (0:32, 2022). The way that the director explained his characters helped me think that telling a story where one of your characters is disabled or has something different to convey the different emotions that they go through with something like sound isn’t possible so using colours is a really strong way to do it visually especially with the use of bright colours like red.

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(all images belong to the YouTube video done by Zima Blue, 2022)

The red I mentioned is used a lot in this tinting effect that I saw throughout the animation When people where dying or things were happening that were important to the plot line, I realized that sometimes the film would have a tinted redness over everything. This redness I think shows the ay the male lead views the world and how destructive both characters are. The red tinting over it is a lot like we are being plunged underwater, and we are seeing the metaphorical red somebody sees when they are going to do something terrible. 

 

Though the colour is great but it doesn’t show enough of the story but what does is the perspectives and sound used throughout. The sound effects the entire mood of the story with it fading in and out when it focusing more on the male lead missing some parts of noises that someone with full hearing would usually here to really show that this character is different and the siren is almost lost by that and wanting to make him hers. Everything is muffled not loud and it’s all very focused on the nature and many other sounds like music are in the background or the music becomes the only thing you hear to show the character emotion without a narrator or someone guiding you with words through a story. My favourite example that was from 6.20 minutes-7.04 minutes on Netflix (3rd Volume, 9th episode, 2022). 

The reason it is my favourite is because again I really like the contrast, not for the reasons like for the colour but this time I think it shows how the siren wants to be seen by this man who isn’t affected by her she wants to be loved by him, it’s almost as she needs him. I think the sound in this scene is very pretty it is set at night, the siren is coming out of the water to inspect the male lead and all of the movements she takes all of her jewellery are making really calm and pretty jingling sounds not only does it fit with the setting (its nighttime and it reminds me a bit like a children’s lullaby) as its very soft) but the way that, that is the only sound you hear, is a really powerful way to show how this siren is really in love with herself. But to the deaf man there is nothing not even wind blowing in the trees so he doesn’t know how much noise the siren is creating making this really eerie but calm effect almost as if she’s finally finding someone else she might love.

 

 

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 (images belonging to Zima Blue,2022)

2 other areas of sound and perspective that I think work well are the scenes screenshotted above. The first one (being the close up of the lips) shows the complete and utter sexual desire they have for each other even though they are a toxic relationship, she may hurt him with her lips but the perspective is Soley on her mouth and the sounds is only the music no rustling of leaves or her jewellery because In that moment it is almost as if you are the male lead experiencing what he would experience without being able to hear.

The other scene that I find to be a good example of sound, perspective as well as movement and style would be right near the end when the deaf man can finally hear for the first time. Now in the interview Alberto Mielgo mentions “it is actually shot with real characters” (2022). All the characters are actors that have danced and interpreted the way these characters would feel at different parts of the story, and it makes for a realistic feeling to the animation;

 

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(Alejandro Gabreial Atia / Music, 2022) 

But the music is at its highest point by this part the deaf male has gone completely mad the siren is completely stripped of her beauty. I think with all the things merged this is where the story is the best, you can feel the raw emotion from both characters with the male lead dancing very rag doll and puppet like showing the control he is under. The way the siren grabs her chest/throat and screams. Sure, she screamed before to lure soldiers to their death through these actions she is doing with her body the scream is a different scream. A scream that is pain and anguish. The screams from both characters are quite silent compared to the music but I think it give a more impactful feeling showing the pain they both feel is so awful and indescribable the screams can’t even be heard

 

Overall, I believe that this animation is a perfect example of storytelling and how you don’t always need a super long animation or something with loads of lore and talking, just a few characters go a long way to describing a gut-wrenching, heartbreaking story that really does make you feel bad for every character. No one is right or wrong they were both hurt though also selfish and quite frankly evil, but it was so balanced through the way it was visualized and animated that I can’t hate any characters. 

 

Bibliography:

Zima Blue (27 May 2022), LOVE, DEATH + ROBOTS – JIBARO, [online video], Available at: https://youtu.be/mE-9H_3CimU?si=F0ZBMUtRNv8FNjw7 , Accessed: 24/9/25

Love, Death + Robots, Jibaro, 3rd volume 9th episode, 2025, Netflix, May 20th 2022

Alejandro Gabriel Atia / Music (31st August 2022), Sara Silkin’s Interpretation of JIBARO | Bloody Golden Woman,Available at: https://youtu.be/eqoMDyR5AAQ?si=Uv-rkCZKuQW43R56 , Accessed: 24/9/25

IGN Movie Trailers (9th June 2022), Netflix’s love, death + robots Vol.3 – Official Making of Jibaro clip (2022) Alberto Mielgo, [online video], Available at: https://youtu.be/kPRMOFQ23TM?si=1NAHIlPMt2D0NHQt , Accessed: 24/9/25