Everyone knows that anything is better than doing actual work. But not everyone realizes that watching films by Jan Svankmajer is better than most things in life. Truly, I cannot recommend Svankmajer’s works enough, his films are unbelievable from all points of view, and every stop motion animation enthusiast must watch them! His bizarre, surrealist representations, always with a dusty, vintage flavour and an unsettling atmosphere can keep one on the edge of their virtual toes through their sheer symbolism and astute originality. My favourite so far is (possibly his best known film) “Alice”, a decadent and subversive reinterpretation of – of course – “Alice in Wonderland”. What is most interesting about it is, in my opinion, that in its surrealism it is very realistic through the use of imagistic uncanny (or, as Tzvetan Todorov rightly calls it, “supernatural explained”): the white rabbit is a shabby piece of taxidermy, for example, whilst the caterpillar is a sock on a darning mushroom.
Svankmajer’s Alice
Another one of my favourites is his short piece, “Dimensions of Dialogue”, which I would describe as an expressively pessimistic take on human interrelations.
Dimensions of Dialogue
I keep on dreaming of one day becoming the proud owner of Jan Svakmajer’s full filmographgy in high definition… Well, who knows, maybe if I will it hard enough, I’ll get a surprise delivery! xD
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