Some Thoughts on The Common Toad

A cine-collage manifesto in defense of beauty amidst political cynicism and environmental alienation. Based on the 1946 essay by George Orwell and read by Tilda Swinton.

«George Orwell is best known for his dystopian visions of humanity, therefore his sentiments of nature’s beauty and ephemerality in times of crises, expressed in his 1946 essay “Some Thoughts on the Common Toad,” might surprise. Orwell saw hope in the annual reemergence of spring, represented in the toad – not as cause for sentimental feelings, but rather as a critique of oppressive systems, cynicism, and capitalism. This idea – using “hope as an axe” (in author Rebecca Solnit’s words) – felt extremely relevant to me. The film was assembled using public domain material, with Tilda Swinton lending her reading. The creative challenge was to strike a balance between illustration of Orwell’s words, versus experimental montage without distracting from the writing. What emerged is a rhythmic collage that questions whether Orwell’s final assertion, that the powerful cannot take away spring, still holds up in the era of climate change.»

– G. Anthony Svatek