The Glassworker
The Glassworker
The Glassworker
The Glassworker
The Glassworker
The Glassworker
The Glassworker
The Glassworker
The Glassworker
The Glassworker
The Glassworker
The Glassworker

Watermelon Pictures

The Glassworker

$26.49
$26.49
$36.98
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Edition Type: Standard Edition

WP-002
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Details

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This listing is for the standard edition Blu-ray. The limited edition slipcover (designed by Dylan Haley) was limited to 500 units and is sold out. The two versions are identical, aside from the slipcover.

Watermelon Pictures is an award-winning film production and distribution company founded in 2024 by brothers Badie Ali and Hamza Ali. The company is dedicated to amplifying underrepresented filmmakers worldwide through powerful and culturally urgent storytelling. Watermelon Pictures is a wholly owned subsidiary of MPI Media Group.

A young glassblower’s world is upended when a violinist and her father arrive in town during a time of war, challenging his relationships and ideals.

directed by: Usman Riaz
starring: Art Malik, Sacha Dhawan, Anjli Mohindra, Tony Jayawardena, Teresa Gallagher, Mina Anwar, Sham Ali, Maya Saroya
2024 / 98 min / 2.39:1 / English DTS-HD MA 5.1, 2.0

Additional info:

  • Region A Blu-ray
  • Making-Of Documentary
  • Storyboard Gallery
  • English SDH subtitles

    Overall rating: 4.6 / 5 from 35 reviews.

    AI Generated Review Summary

    The Glassworker is a Blu-ray film with stunning animation and a compelling story. It features a beautiful animation style, emotional depth, and a powerful narrative about a young glassblower during a time of war. Special features include a making-of documentary, storyboard gallery, and English SDH subtitles.

    Summary topics

    • Animation Quality (30%): A substantial number of customers brought up that the animation is gorgeous, full of depth, and adds emotional depth.
    • Animation Style (45%): A significant amount of customers expressed appreciation for the beautiful animation style and perfect animation of the film.

    Review topics: ["looks","packaging","depth","animation","film","release","story","movie","recommendation","slipcover","work","buy"].

    Review highlights

    • "The animation, especially the delicate glassmaking sequences, is stunning, and the music adds real emotional depth." — Mitchell C.
    • "Reminiscent of Studio Ghibli films, it has tremendous art design, color, and animation." — Ed K.
    • "A beautiful piece of animation with an amazing packaging." — Brad Y.

    Reviews

    Well Done Animated Feature

    "Great animated film from Pakistan. Beautifully animated and the story was wonderfully told. Presentation is flawless. Image is sharp and clear. Sound is amazing with a lot of OOMPF when needed. Highly recommended."

    — Andrew R. (5/5)

    An Inspiring Behind the Scenes Story - And a Good First Effort

    "I love Studio Ghibli, and it's obvious where Usman Riaz is drawing his inspiration from for this film. A couple of shots in The Glassworker felt like they were taken straight out of Howl's Moving Castle. Of course there are a lot of perils with wearing your Ghibli influences on your sleeve like this, because you'll be drawing comparisons. Both Miyazaki and Takahata have worked with the best animators in Japan, a place with a robust 2D animation business. They were both perfectionists and had a lot of directorial experience before the formation of Studio Ghibli. Director Usman Riaz had to learn everything from scratch, and build an animation studio in a place without an industry, effectively turning his studio into a kind of animation school to train animators through lots of trial and error. I am beyond impressed by this effort. The behind the scenes documentary included goes into this. The other bonus feature is a full storyboard gallery of the entire film. Riaz chose to use a format similar storyboard format to those used on Japanese productions, so there are a lot of director notes in the boards themselves that I'm sure would be interesting to pour over. The blu-ray transfer is nice, I did not check the bitrate, but it looks good. I wish the disc included the Urdu dub, but people should be aware that English is the original language version of the film. Overall, this is a good movie, but it is quite flawed and suffers from some writing issues. However, Riaz is an incredibly talented force. As an animator who lives in a place without an animation industry, I know what a challenge he was up against. I give him a standing ovation, and I can't wait to see what he makes next."

    — Zachary S. (3/5)

    a visual triumph and historic release

    "very crisp and colorful animation with a great soundtrack, overall a terrific presentation. if you like Studio Ghibli type of films, this film definitely scratches that itch."

    — Tommy L. (5/5)

    Good movie

    "Great slipcover & edition. Nice features and interesting animation."

    — Jonathan D. (5/5)

    Gorgeous

    "The Glassworker is a beautifully crafted animated film that feels both intimate and expansive in its storytelling. The hand-drawn visuals are stunning, giving every scene a sense of care and artistry that really stands out. It’s a heartfelt story about love, ambition, and conflict that lingers in a quiet, emotional way."

    — Shawn M. (4/5)

    Beautifully animated film

    "This is a truly gorgeous movie. Reminiscent of Studio Ghibli films, it has tremendous art design, color, and animation. Well performed and scored as well. The ending is a little vague so I'm not sure what it's depicting. And just a warning for anyone expecting a happy little love story, it gets pretty dark towards the end. It's far from the most depressing animated film I've ever seen, that honor forever belongs to Grave of the Fireflies, but it is a bit of a downer. Absolutely astounding that this was made independently. Tremendously high quality work. Makes me long for more hand drawn animation. It's always been my favorite. Highly recommended."

    — Ed K. (5/5)

    Gorgeous

    "Beautiful animation, charming story & excellent edition"

    — Jose C. (5/5)

    Beautiful, Unique Release from Watermelon Pictures

    "I was glad to see this type of animation being released on VS. The animation is gorgeous and full of depth, I'd recommend it on that alone. Watermelon Pictures is definitely going to be a distributor to keep your eye on."

    — Jacob B. (5/5)

    Better than a stick in the eye

    "Lovely animation, but the story is lacking. Still incredibly talented people are behind this work of art."

    — Alex B. (4/5)

    Better than I expected

    "it’s not Ghibli, but it’s pretty good."

    — Taylor T. (4/5)

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