Reviews (32)

A decent Alice...sadly, a little known one.
This is doubtlessly the most bizarre film I have ever seen. Since it is a version of ALICE, that's okay. It holds a sort of hallucinatory shadow over the story from which it was inspired: it is a frightening look into the very desolation that comes with age. Alice herself is lost in Wonderland, perhaps an embodiment of the corruption and decay that follows the subversion of childhood. The characters of the book have been reduced to dead, mindless things here: the White Rabbit is a taxidermist's expirament; the Mad Hatter is a marionette; the March Hare is a stuffed animal. These characters, void of life and thought, seem to represent the dull world of adulthood, where the repetitive events of every day are hammered out endlessly, and seen without the color or whimsy they hold when seen through the eyes of a child. The movie is doubtlessly symbolic of many things, however they are so cryptically presented that I cannot figure any of them out for myself. The movie itself is not fun to watch, it is rather tedious, in fact: but it holds a subconscious power over the viewer, he sees with astonished eyes Alice moving through the doorways and drawerways of the decaying realm. The viewer becomes part of a different sphere of consciousness: he lingers with Alice in a perpetual dream-state, or, a nightmare from which he cannot awake, until the last scant bit of dilogue is recited, and the final credits roll. Svankmajere (or however you spell it) has a fine taste for the macabre, and by moving as far from Carroll's story as possible, he does it ironic justice. By moulding the plot to form his own tightly-knit fantasy, he does not sabotage the feel of the book, but intensifies it. For this he deserves praise. With Alice we feel every bit of menace and curiosity, a trait rarely found in films. This one touches profoundly and unexplainably with the child inside us, and for the lapse of its running time we become part of another world, one which we are anxious to escape while we linger in it, but feel obsessively drawn back to after the return to our conscious states.

Svankmajer's hugely influential chef d'oeuvre
The influence of Jan Svankmajer's 1988 ALICE on the art and film and deisgn of the 1990s and beyond is enormous: you can see it almost evidently in the films of the Brothers Quay and David Fincher as well as in every beautifully designed magazine you open today. Svankmajer took the Lewis Carroll story and transposed it to a world which seems totalitarian in nature, and beautifully shabby and eroded in look, where everything is chappied and falling to pieces. The white rabbit is a terrifying taxidermic model, with huge teeth and glass eyes; it pulls itself from its mounting pins and bleeds sawdust when opened. The fall down the rabbit hole is a dark descent by elevator down through what seems to be a beautifully decrepit storage warehouse: the small animals Alice encounters are skull-headed toys.

All this is beautiful, and creates a stunningly original aesthetic. It's also sometimes a bit creepy, and (worse) at times exceptionally tedious. (You think if you get one more extreme close-up of Alice's lips telling the tale you'll scream.) It's something to pore over shot by shot or sequence by sequence, but it's not particularly entertaining by any means. But it is something that still deserves to be seen again and again.

"Said the Queen of Hearts"
There are only two negatives to this film that I felt were mostly unnecessary elements. One was the frequent edit to a close-up of Alice's, excuse me "Alenka's," tiny mouth and stained yellow teeth saying things like "Said the White Rabbit" or "Said the Queen of Hearts." By the time this monotony reached the double-digits I was getting annoyed. I knew which character said what, and I didn't need a constant reminder. The other negative, and this is up for debate, is that I don't like foreign films that are dubbed in English. Call me crazy, but I prefer subtitles. There is always something lost in the translation. Well, enough of my negativity. There is plenty here worth seeing, and if you are a genuine nut-case for stop-motion filmmaking than you should thoroughly enjoy this movie. This is not a children's film! There are way too many unnerving and nightmarish sequences. In fact, this film feels like a surreal nightmare! There's a slab of meat that squirms into a pot, there are little rat skulls breaking out of egg shells, and my favorite moment of the film comes when Alice is being chased by the White Rabbit and his grotesque friends. Alice slams the door and bars the smaller door at the base. Suddenly, an axe-head bursts through the tiny door repeatedly until it is completely splintered. The axe withdraws and the head of the White Rabbit(a stuffed rabbit with sawdust for entrails) pokes through and he seems to stare at Alice with an evil glare from his glassy white eyes. I expected him to say "Heeeere's Thumper!" That was the creepiest moment for me, but there are others. There are also some wrenching sound effects that add some excellent flavor to the nightmarish proceedings. If it wasn't for the extremely annoying and frequent cutaways to Alice's slimy mouth I may have given this film a higher rating. That, and she has a gross habit of puting everything she finds into her mouth. One thing she tries is a key she finds inside a sardine tin filled with oil. Instead of wiping the key clean on her dress she gives it one good, long slurp. Yuck! Even she grimaced, much to my delight. "Overall, this is a good movie with plenty of jarring scenes and dream-like sequences that are haunting me to this day," said the Amazon.com reviewer. There is also a short stop-motion film on this DVD that is "definitely" not for children, but it does have some humorous moments. Take it easy.

very drugged
While I have never been on acid, I believe that watching this movie is a lot like taking some sort of hallucinogen. It's tweak.

Probably Svankmajer's best movie
If you are unfamiliar with Svankmajer, it may be best to start with Alice. It is his most stylish and least morbid and grotesque long feature.

Sounds appealing? Actually it is a masterpiece. Like his other movies it is not for everyone, but it promises a unique movie experience. ... Read more

Reviews (105)

Ralph Bakshi's Wizards
While it is certainly not for young children, older teens and adults will get a real kick out of "Wizards". Set in a post-apocalyptic world wrought by radiation due to a nuclear holocaust, most humans have died, and the population consists mainly of elves, fairies, dwarves, and then the mutants. The world is in danger from the threat of technology, brought upon by the evil wizard, Blackwolf. It is up to his brother, the comical, yet good hearted wizard, Avatar, to stop him. Joining Avatar in his quest are Weehawk, chief of a tribe of warrior elves, Elenor, fairy princess of the land of Montagar, and Peace, a former assassin of Blackwolf's (formerly known as Necron 99) who changes his ways and fights against the threat of technology. The WWII references abound, and there are many more adult-oriented references throughout. It dares to go where cartoons usually do not, making allusions to sex, prostitution, religion, and there's even a rather racist Vietnam reference if you can catch it. However, I still highly recommend "Wizards", because in all it's brashness, it deserves to be seen. What the animation lacks in quality, it more than makes up for in imagination. It's quite funny, and it also delivers some unexpected twists. I personally really like the way it was done. The music really seems to fit the overall style of it, and the wonderful character designs and voice acting really pulls it all together. I definetely recommend it to anyone searching for something creative and different, and I'm sure any fan of cult classics will definetely want to check it out. However, I stress the importance of having an open mind. I think those who are more open to controversial subject matter will be able to better enjoy it, with all it's dark humor and it's alternative-type feel. I think it is something that everyone should see at least once. It deserves more credit than it has been given, and I think that it will really make people stop and think about our world, and about themselves.

Bakshi's masterpiece finally on DVD!!!!
This 1977 Ralph Bakshi made animated sci-fi fantasy is set in the post-apocalyptic future where mutants, monsters, fairies, elves, dwarves, and magical creatures roam. An evil wizard named "Blackwolf" plans on taking over the world with his mutant army using old Nazi propaganda films while a kind and powerful wizard named "Avatar" with a hot fairy chick named " Ellinor" and a brave elf named "Weehawk" including a robot named "Peace" join forces together to go to a place called "Scorch" then stop Blackwolf, the war and prevent the end of the world.

A unique, kadeldoscopic and entertaining animated fantasy from the director of "Fritz The Cat", " Animated Lord of the Rings" and "American Pop". The animation is quite good, it does have Mark Hamil's voice debut before he was in "Star Wars" of the same year this movie was released, a superhot fairy chick guaranteed to make guys smile and it's a good fun flick for the whole family even though it's rated PG due to some graphic animated violence, battle scenes, some language and some mild nudity.

The DVD is excellent, the extras include TV Spot, Trailers, a documentary on how Ralph Bakshi created this movie, still gallery and a audio commentary by Ralph Bakshi. So if you love fun fantasy, sci-fi and animated flicks then pick this up for your animation DVD collection.

Also recommended: " Terminator 2: Judgment Day", " Fist of the North Star" ( Anime version), " Braveheart", " Gladiator", " Mad Max", " The Last Unicorn", " The Secret of NIMH", " Rock & Rule", " The Dark Crystal", " The Princess Bride", " Star Wars", " Gettysburg", " Starship Troopers", " Total Recall", " Heavy Metal", " The Fifth Element", " Mulan", "Antz".

classic you will either hate or love
This is one of those rare movies that doesn't try to hide its flaws, and actually benefits from them giving the entire movie a campy feel to it. The accents are mixed up, the animation crude and often using recycled sequences, the movement is jerky, scenes are often using war footage that was animated over, and the jokes are often crude and dark natured. But the film in a whole works.

Though it is a bit preachy in its ways, this movie makes you interested in the characters. It also brings up some intersting and satirical ideas.

the world was destroyed in war, humans are few and most have mutated and live in badlands. Elves, faeries and dwarves, have returned and taken over the good lands, but nothing seems different. The factions are divided and uncooperative with each other. When the badlands mutants gets a powerful leader, they ignore it until it is too late. When the push is made for the mutants to take over the goodlands the enemy seemingly has too much up his sleeve.

The cartoon has a definite seventies feel to it. The humor is dark, twisted, and often times has a distinct feel of juxtoposition. It is a fantasy futuristic world that has the attitude and feeling of New York. There are fairy hookers, dirty streets with bums lying around, and bitter old men with brooklyn accents. The evil army has a strong Nazi theme to it, as well as their secret weapons.

It is also very violent, showing elves and fairies being killed by the hundreds, pow's being executed, and prisoners being forced to entertain soldiers any way they want.

This is a very warped movie that shouldn't work, but does. A classic from the 70's that had enough of a cult following to bring it to dvd today. watch it for the spectacle and you will either love it or hate it.

A Lost Masterpiece!
I remember seeing this film as young kid though I really wasn't supposed too. I saw it with the film LIGHT YEARS another film that I hope will come to dvd in the very near future. This film is basically about a centuries old battle between two brothers. One on the side of magic, the other on the side of Technology. It's basic good versus evil with a bit of social commentary in between. The animation may not be what people are used to now, but it serves it's purpose. I personally like the rendition of the elves. They look more like elves from say ELF QUEST and not the overly tall elves of D&D fame. Pretty good film. Check it out for nostalgia if anything else.

Finally a beautiful Bakshi release on DVD
Ralph Bakshi has his admirers and his detractors, as any good filmmaker should. Wizards is an important film for many reasons, but mostly, in my opinion, because it really began the experimentation of melding of rotoscope, traditional animation and live action. Bakshi masterfully mixes the three techniques in ways never before done, and seldom since. His powerful use of Nazi propaganda films melds perfectly with high contrast rotoscoping of Eisenstein's Alexander Nevski to give birth to a new and disturbing world. His use of traditional animation techniques then colors the fairy lands in another light and we see the contrast between these two worlds brought together in a terrifying realization. The melding of various methods of filmmaking might be too much for some who have become accustomed to Disney animation, Saturday morning cartoons and anime, but it gives us a rare glimpse into what might have been in an artform which never fully developed into its own right.

Finally, we have DVD which treats master filmmaker, Ralph Bakshi, with the respect he deserves. After the atrociously inadequate release of Bakshi's Lord of the Rings Part One a few years ago, with it's incredible lack of special features and horrific overdub in the middle of the closing score (though thankfully finally released in widescreen format), I couldn't be happier with the treatment Fox has given to this film. The transfer is gorgeous and the colors are far more vivid than I have ever seen before - an element that is critical to the film.

The real treat, however, is the feature length commentary by Mr. Bakshi as well as the "documentary" on him and his work. I would have liked to have him chat a bit more about Lord of the Rings since we were robbed of a commentary in that DVD release, but he does give a bit of insight into the film, which was welcome.

All in all, a fantastic DVD release of a groundbreaking film. Bravo Fox and Mr. Bakshi! I hope Fire and Ice, Hey Good Lookin', Coonskin and someday a re-release of Lord of the Rings, will receive a similar treatment.

David ... Read more

Amazon.com

Advertised as "X-rated and Animated," Fritz the Cat earned an impressive $25 million in 1972. Screenwriter-director Ralph Bakshi based the film on three of Robert Crumb's stories about a superficial college student who tried to seduce anything in a skirt. The gritty, often gross film shocked U.S. audiences accustomed to innocent flirtations and slapstick comedy in cartoons. Thirty years later, Fritz looks less shocking than puerile. The violence grafted onto Crumb's innocent stories feels gratuitous, and the racial imagery tasteless. As dated as a Nehru jacket, the film will interest students of animation history and American pop culture. Crumb detested the film: he drew Fritz as a decadent Hollywood star, who was exploited by caricatures of Bakshi and producer Steve Krantz--and murdered by a bitter ex-girlfriend. "Another casualty of the '60s..." --Charles Solomon ... Read more

Reviews (30)

GNARLY, FUNKY, OBSCENE AND FUNNY
Originally X-rated, the notorious and successful "FRITZ THE CAT" is now available on DVD. Animator Ralph Bakshi adapted several comic strip stories from counter culture artist Robert Crumb about a shallow college guy who hits on anything in a skirt.

In 1972 it was shocking to see cartoons using crude language and in lewd situations. Gritty, violent and racist, Fritz (he ends up on the road with a biker gang to blow up America) caught a lot of heat and made a ton of money. Incidentally, Crumb hated the film and continued his comic strip and skewered Bakshi and producer Steve Krantz and killed off Fritz (a jealous girlfriend did the deed).

The radical 60s as seen through the distorted lens of a million psychedelic animation cells. "Fritz the Cat" is a freak show that still shocks and yes, it's funny as hell. But just sometimes. If this is too offensive, there's always "LAND BEFORE TIME VIII."

This is a very weird movie!
Now, I understand that movies were very obscure during the '70s (the transition from the psychedlic '60s to the extravagant '80s was a very logical progression), I mean you have exploitation films, movies with a tremendous amount of nudity, and ultra-violence, what more could you want in a decade? While I was not alive during the time this movie was released I read a review in "Playboy", and I had figured I had better see this movie to decide for myself. Even by today's standards, this is a very bizarre film, I wish I would have watched this on acid (I would have enjoyed it a lot more, pretty colors anyone). I almost fell on the floor laughing a few times the first time I saw this.

Fritz is a student at NYU, who is bored with life and wants to try something new, unfortunately (to our delight), he bites off a lot more than he can chew. There's a wild ride through Harlem, cartoon orgies, drug use, and cops portrayed as pigs (literally), what else do you need. See this movie!

Fritz the Cat
Ah, "Fritz The Cat" one of the most beloved Adult Cartoons there is, in fact "Fritz The Cat" influenced the adult
cartoons we have today to an extent, showcasing violence and sex and in between commenting on society where it is, where it has been, and where it's going to.

First I should say, that this is the first animated movie that was given an "X"
by MPAA. After looking at the film I'd say it has more of an "R" rating at best.

I also I am glad to finally write a review on it, because the cartoon has been dismissed as trash by critics, but
it's not trash, there are a couple of interesting bits in the movie, but if you watch the movie with "head up your butt, politically correct" mentality, then
you wont see the points the movie is trying to make.

Now "Fritz the Cat" was done by Legendary Ralph Bakshi who has brought classics like "Spiderman" and
"The Hulk" cartoons to tv, but as a director he has matured over the news

and has use his medium and power to include bigger cartoon movies that showcase societal messages like in his "Wizards" cartoon movie with Mark Hamill (from Star Wars) to comment on WWII and Nazi party.

Now the film was also made from writer Robert Crumb who created the characters. Now if you watch any of Crumb's cartoons you catch several of his trademark "movies" like "Heavy Traffic" a good movie about out work artists with commentary on society , capitalism and the movie industry itself. The movie also has a very dark imagination often putting in live action with animation and mingling the two successfully too .
Now it has been released on DvD, but the DVD is very poor offering no extras, so dont waste any money on it,
the vhs version is much cheaper to get.

The films plot revolves around a young adolescent cat name Fritz who wants to experience everything that life has to offer: women, sex, drugs and rock and roll. Fritz is an independent free spirit, someone who hates authority and basically does whatever he wants to do when he wants to do it. He in a way
reminds me of that character Dustin Hoffman played in "Midnight Cowboy" having fun, but also ridiculing those idiots around him including a couple of protesters who he says "should get
a real job"....speaking of which, "Fritz The Cat" has a couple of references to the 60's and hippies, and its pretty funny. One of which is as many
of the characters in the movie point out, that 1960's hippies have turned fat and never amounted to anything...except for smoking alot of pot. It's not very flattering, but it is part realistic, because
I am sure people know a couple of their hippie friends who "freeloaded" back in the 1960's and who despite saying that were for the peace movement were only there for free food and sex and by 1970's became fat and never amounted to anything.

So Fritz is a freespirited, but selfimposing invididual who at first has no ambitions other than, having sex with many girls and he achieves his goal
....having an orgy with a couple of easy woman in his friends place luring them in with words of poetry...lol.

However the orgy is interrupted when cops (portrayed as talking pigs...yeah you heard the cops are pigs...
a term that is now used to refer to real cops) bust in..but these cops are so stupid it's funny and well everyone they tried to arrest (with really no evidence) get away.

Fritz escapes but hides in a Jewish Synagogue and from there laughs and mayhem ensues as Fritz once
again makes fools of the cops and escapes back to his friends place egging him to quit studying for exams
and party. Howevever, being ruled by emotions, Fritz accidently burns down his friends place and his own
notes. Fritz has a couple of Entertaining Dream sequences that gives a glimpse into his personality and Crumb's use of great camera work blending in
inaminate objects with animation.

So then after this bit of carnage the movie tones a bit though and gets serious when Fritz encounters
Racism, violence, anarchy and state of capitalism and power which control every living thing and person
in this world. So this is when Crumb through Fritz, shows us these messages both graphically and in subtle
fashion, it's very well done and despite the fact that by the end of the film, nothing really changes, Fritz and the audience do become aware of the world that Fritz lives in and why he is the character he is after being in this environment. That is really the best way to describe it and to say but that wouldn't be giving the movie to much credit.

The voice of Fritz was done by Skp Hinnant, but taking a look at his resume, he unfornately didn't
have a rewarding acting career which is too bad.

"Fritz The Cat" spawned a sequel "Nine Lives of Fritz Cat" (which I had
the pleasure of seeing couple of months ago ). Commercially too the film did allright, there was a comic strip of "Fritz The Cat" by Robert Crumb ,soundtracks, and a couple of other memorabilia.

Anyhow, I very much recommend "Fritz The Cat", it will have you laughing and entertained throughout, but
look closer and you will a couple of messages that Crumb and Bakshi were trying to make at that time.

There's just something about it...
that's hard to describe. The first time I saw this was on VHS when I was in high school, about 15 years ago. I was very excited when the soundtrack became available on CD and the film on DVD. It has a vibe that goes beyond the typical sex-and-drugs commentary. The film has important things to say, but people looking for a standard Hollywood film aren't going to understand. My friends and I still use some of the one-liners today! And of course, anyone who's been to college can sympathize with Fritz, as he rants and raves about pretentious intellectuals...

Give it a shot. I still get something out of it, even after 15 years of regular viewing. (...)

A film that should be looked on with and openmind
Well many consider this film to both suck and blow at the same time, yet you must look at it how it was meant 2 be watched - not as a serious portrait of nyc in the 60s but as a comic animation of the more important things in our life! Loved the film, embodies student life 2 the full teehee and will get you rolling around in laughter very very very quickly ITS NOT A SERIOUS FILM!!!! ITS VERY VERY FUNNY - PERFECT FOR THOSE LATE FRIDAY WASTED NITES GOGOGOGOOOOOOOOOOOO forth and buy it! If you like drugs sex or anything inbetween this is your film

beautiful ... Read more

Description

For the past forty years, Jan Svankmajer (Alice, Little Otik) has been hailed as one of cinema's most consistently surprising, wildly imaginative and remarkable surrealists of our time. Utilizing a delirious combination of puppets, humans, stop-motion animation and live action, Svankmajer's films conjure up a dreamlike universe that is at once dark, macabre, witty and perversely visceral. This collection of remarkable short works pays tribute to an artist that has mesmerized audiences the world over, inspiring filmmakers from the Brothers Quay to Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam. Volume 2 includes: "Dimensions of Dialogue," "Down to the Cellar," "The Pendlum, the Pit and Hope," "Meat Love," "Flora," "The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia," "Food," BBC Documentary: "Animator of Prague", Selected Svankmajer Poems. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Interesting surreal shorts.
This is a good, but somewhat short collection at 76 min. Having seen Dimensions of Dialogue years ago on PBS I had some idea of what I was getting. Much of it is weird and some are rather difficult to understand, but still good to watch. The style of the stop-motion is unique and is even used with people. I didn't find any of the shorts to be bad and would recommend it to those who are open-minded (these certainly aren't for everyone) and have an interest in stop-motion animation. Unfortunately, a good number of shorts by Svankmajer are not included on either DVD and Image Entertainment is not planning to release them.

A great collection of incrediable films!
I've been waiting for years to get a copy of one of my favaorite Svankmajer films DOWN TO THE CELLAR. This precusor to his acclaimed Little Otik is exquisitely funny and creepy. This is a must collection for fans of both SVANKMAJER and surrealist cinema in general. The presentation of the films is excellent and the dvd is fitted with some nice extras - artwork, poems, a doc to help you get a fuller sense of SVANKMAJER as not just as an extraordinary film maker but as an artist as well. DON'T MISS THIS ONE! ... Read more

Description

Jan Svankmajer's long awaited follow up to his acclaimed "Alice" is an equally astounding version of the myth of Dr. Faustus. Merging live action with stop motion and claymation, Svankmajer has created an unsettling universe presided over by diabolic life size marionettes and haunted by skulking human messengers from hell. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

A fantasy to dream with again and again.
Wonderful blend of real-time and stop-motion storytelling by a master of the surreal. An apparently ordinary everyman is led by curiousity into a dilapidated building which turns out to be a strange cross of theatre, a puppeteer's workshop, and an alchemical laboratory. Suddenly, he finds himself becoming the legendary character Dr. Faust, selling his soul to the devil to gain magical powers.
Jan Svankmajer is the real sorcerer here and blends stage sets with real settings, seven foot puppets with live actors, and makes magic of it all.
The film has been dubbed for English audiences, but I have never seen a less obtrusive film dub. The voice performances are excellent and actually add to the surreal quality of the film.
Just one caution: This is not a "family" film. There is some adult material, so don't confuse this with Bass and Rankin style claymation.

Brilliant Avante Garde portrayal of Chris Marlowe's Faust
I have fond memories of this film in my ealier adult years, being very ripped on 'mood altering substances' and having a good ole kick back and watch of this film! It really used to bend my head! These days although making more sense in regards to a linear plot, I was somewhat dissapointed with the fact that this DVD does not offer the film in it's orginal language (Czech). Having seen the film in it's original language with English subtitles, I must say that the poorly dubbed voices, although bearing close resemblance to the original film do not give it the ambience it remember, however I'm sure than anyone watching this film for the first time in this dubbed format will throughly enjoy it!
Definately one to kick back with a Philly and a Guiness and enjoy!

jan's best!
I have yet to see jan's "lil otik" but out of all his others "faust" is by far the best of his vivid,imaginative works.new fans will want to see "alice"(his stop-motion take on alice in wonderland)first to get a real feel for his stuff.then buy "faust" if you like alice.the story is actually based off of a play,and includes live actors,string puppets,claymation,and such awesome scenery!fans of david lynch's "eraserhead" should not miss this.

pay attention...it's worth it!
This was simply the most visually and conceptually mesmerizing film I've seen in many years. It seamlessly melds the classic "Faust" story (a man selling his soul to the devil for a lifetime of earthly powers but who desperately regrets it at the end of his days) with modern-day capitalist society seen from the arresting perspective of Prague, The Czech Republic---where communism fell only recently, in 1989, and where people are still adjusting to the monumental cultural shift therein.

Even though the film is mostly silent, it's hard to take your eyes off the screen. Svankmejer is almost never predictable, and the surrealism and magic realism he infuses the film with keeps you constantly guessing what's coming next, and usually finding yourself unable to do so correctly. Much of it reminds me of "Alice in Wonderland"---you are transported into a parallel universe where all sorts of bizarre inexplicable things keep happening, it all makes no sense yet it does make sense. Of course, Svankmejer's famoust clay-mation plays a HUGE part in creating this surreal otherworld (he did the clay-mation for a couple of Peter Gabriel's videos, most famously "Sledgehamer"). After a while you simply give up and just sit back and just EXPERIENCE the film without trying to put it into any sort of predictable logical structure---which is exactly how you later start to see one emerging.

Truly, cinematic artistry of the highest order.

trip for two,please!
this movie is perfect for a big dube on a cold -20 winter night!strangely enough,I thought the "depth and pace"of this film were kind of like the big lebowski or the last tv episode of twin peaks!and as the green burns down,you'll find that you may have opened a virtual treasure chest of trippiness for all your buddies to behold!buy this movie just for the trippy factor alone. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

OK animation, iffy movie
The animation is good, especially considering when it was made, but "American Pop" is never quite successful. Once again Bakshi probes the sordid underbelly of his subject, in this case pop music, but nothing here ever comes off quite convincing enough. And his dismissal of punk and rush to embrace the bland beardo post-hippie commercial rock of Bob Seger and Heart betrays Bakshi's age, and maybe a lack of good taste as well. It comes off a bit old-fogeyish.

Like a lot of Bakshi's work, this has to be taken as it is, and the viewer has to bear in mind when and how it was made. Computer animation was in its infancy, and animation was at a low point in the United States, so the fact that this was made and distributed in mainstream theaters at all was a minor miracle at the time.

In short, the musical spots provide the bright moments, but the plot is labored and the characters, particularly the ridiculous "rock star" he invents at the end of the film, are unconvincing. As a historical document of where animation was in the United States at the time, it's viewable; as entertainment, well, it's better than "Heavy Traffic" but certainly not any kind of a classic animated film. See it if you want, but it's not indispensable.

One of My Favorite Movies of All Time
I watched American Pop for the first time after seeing a promo for it on the Anniversary Edition DVD of Heavy Metal. I loved Heavy Metal so I figured why not try this one out since it seems to be of a similar genre. Boy was I glad I did...

Not only did I have no clue the movie was made in the early 80's wheh I watched it in 1999, but I was absolutely floored by the fluid animation that was produced by Bakshi's technique of Rotoscoping that was also used in Heavy Metal, Wizards, and Lord of the Rings...

The animation and story line were some of the best I have seen...in any movie!! I never watch many dvd's more than once but this one I have gotten through at least 5 times. It is an absolute masterpiece in animation and Bakshi's best work to date.

Rotoscoping animation is largely misunderstood and doesn't get enough credit. If more animation was done this way, adults would probably enjoy more non-Disneyesque type features geared towards older audiences.

Don't miss this flick if you are a fan of excellent animation...

Hubby Loved It & Hates Animation; I Loved It Period
I usually like animation, especially when it has an art house spin to it like Bashki's work does. I've never been able to convert hubby to it though, with only a few exceptions. This was the first animation that I ever screened for him that he enjoyed from beginning to end. In fact, he watched it twice. Since it came out (many years ago), the only animation he's liked as well is "Waking Life." Bashki does an incredible job of covering the rock world and its stars, although he never explicitly names anyone. The story flows effortlessly (it seems) and takes us for a kaleidescopic ride along the development of rock and roll set in the USA. The art and music are outstanding. Well worth buying since you will want to watch it more than once. It will appeal to a wide variety of ages too.

A Brilliant underrated masterpiece.
From Ralph Bakshi ( Director of "Lord of the Rings" 1978 version, "Fritz The Cat" and "Wizards) has crafted a highly entertaining and moving animated feature using Rotoscopic technics and great script too.

This tells four stories of four generations of one family under the influence of American music, from Vaudeville era to the 80's, it's a animated flick that is serious for once without no goofy sidekicks but does entertain and is quite a fun flick, if you like " Heavy Metal", "Secret of NIMH", "Flight of Dragons" and "Last Unicorn" then check out this movie.

Still a classic!
This movie was released when I was 19. I watched it over and over again. Something hard to do before VCRs or DVDs were popular. I was worried that it would stand the test of time. Well, this evening I showed it to my 18-year-old niece who has a scholarship to the animation track at the Art Institute of San Francisco. I was worried she would find it too dated. She really loved it. And I still enjoyed it too! ... Read more

Description

Films included in this volume:Seasons (I. Ivanov-Vano, 1969), Ballerina on a Boat (L. Atamanov, 1969), Armoire (A. Khrjanovsky, 1970), Battle of Kerjenets (I. Ivanov-Vano and Yuri Norstein, 1971), Butterfly (A. Khrjanovsky, 1972), Island (F. Khitruk, 1973), Fox and Rabbit (Y. Norstein, 1973), Heron and Crane (Y. Norstein, 1974), Hedgehog in the Fog (Y. Norstein, 1975), Crane's Feathers (I. Garanina, 1977), Firing Range (A. Petrov, 1975), Contact (Vladimir Tarasov, 1978). ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Yup, that's Russian Animation alright.
It's Russian. It's animation. It's Russian animation!

I have no idea why I like this stuff so much, it's not the best animation I've ever seen, even considering its age. There is something different and seductive about it, though.

I think that part of the appeal is imagining a great Soviet Military/Animation complex filled with thousands of animators who 'draw or die' for Mother Russia. Complete the image with one Kommisar for each animator and you really begin to appreciate these guys!

Or maybe these were underground animators, condemmed by the state and forced to live each day in fear for their right to animate!

Either way, I like it!

My favorite segment is one called Seasons. Imagine a painfully beautiful RANKIN/BASS flick portraying all of two seasons. Two! I wait for the day I find the other 2 seasons as well because fall and winter are just gorgeous. Maybe Russia only has fall and winter.

The rest of the animation is pretty good. I recommend this if you like alternative animation or fancy yourself to be a tortured artist. If you are the latter, grab a beret, pull up an uncomfortable stool and enjoy!

"Hedgehog" will incite your IMAGINATION
If you have any love of animation at all - the artistry, the depth, the impact - the Masters of Russian Animation volumes are a MUST OWN. In this edition, Norstein's "Hedgehog in the Fog" will tickle and please your visual imagination like NOTHING else! I presented this short film to an American suburban community center audience and they were SPELLBOUND! I've owned a lot of films on DVD (and sold a lot - crazy recession), but I'll never relinquish any of the four volumes in this series. NEVER! Enjoy, with my regards. ... Read more

Reviews (37)

An Interesting Movie to Watch
I rather liked this movie. Despite some animation/real life scenes where both sides mixed and just didn't fit, it is a good movie to watch. I think it is equal, if not better than Roger Rabbit. Cool World is a twisted, Toon Town where chaos happens all around and an eyelid is never battered. A good escape from reality.
The animation is fantastic, and Brad Pitt does very well considering he was acting on his own most of the time.
Kim Basinger spoils the climax with her poor acting as a human. She's better left as a cartoon.
The music is fantastic and suits the scenes well. Cool World is in a category of its own and a much different movie to watch then most would expect.

5 stars for the animation and sound track. Minus a star for allowing Kim Basinger a role in the movie.

Bakshi makes another liveactionanimation film, of vapidness
I've seen his live-action/animation film "Coonskin", and that was great. Now that I saw "Cool World", I'm dissapointed. This film is the worst 4/10 film I ever rated. I don't call it a Roger Rabbit rip-off (I'm wondering why people are, but it's not, just because it is also live-action and animated doesn't mean we call it a rip-off [did we call Roger Rabbit a rip-off of Coonskin or other live-action/animated films before RR...hmmm!!??]) The artwork is nice and bizzare, but that is one of the few merits this film has, but the animation bleeds together horribly with the live-action (for example, when Brad Pitt put his arm around Lonnete, he looked as though he put his arm around a living card-board cut-out.) The soundtrack has a 4/5 merit, but that's the only other merit. The plot is horrible, I dunno why certain people actually like this plot. This film deserved to flop in the Box-Office. The dialoge is fairly weak as well. If you are going to buy this film, DON'T. Don't even rent it! Just buy the soundtrack and you'll live happily ever after away from this film.

Bakshi's worst movie
The movie is poorly written not to mention the lame special effects. Its a completly souless film. If you liked Fritz the Cat,Wizards,American Pop, or other films by Ralph Bakshi, than stay away from this, because its embarassing.

ADULT ANIMATION, NOT FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
The dvd has Great Quality Sound and Video with lots of vivid colors and many sexual inuendos. There is a Great story line as long as you can follow a plot that suggests that there is more to life than just living on "earth" such as going back and forth to alternate universes. If you have seen and liked "MEET THE FEEBLES" You'll like this one too - this one does not have any bloody scenes or explicit sexual scenes, much is left up to the imagination. I think that Many people need to Learn to use their imagination more and not be so closed-minded.

Holly Wood If She Could
Cool World is a more mainstream effort from Ralph Bakshi (Lord of the Rings, Wizards, American Pop) than some of his other works but it still shows his genius.

There exists a two-dimensional world called Cool World. Sometimes our worlds overlap. In Cool World, humans are Noids and cartoons are Doodles. Brad Pitt is a Noid who has been stuck there for years and has been acting as a detective.

The villain (if you want to call her that) is Holli Would, a sexy, talented and smart doodle who wants to get to the Noid world. She plans to do this by having sex with a cartoonist who thinks he created Cool World for a comic book.

Pitt works to prevent this from happening as the results could cause the destruction of both worlds. But Pitt has his hands full as Holli is no mere brainless bimbo.

The effects are wonderful as cartoon scenery goes from drawing to prop seamlessly. While Cool World looks a little like Toon Town (Roger Rabbit) with its faces on buildings and twisted landscape, but these are not cute toons (although the Tex Avery-style wolves do make an appearance).

A fun movie with adult themes and unique imagery. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Exquisite cacophony of images
Jan Svankmajer, whose name is almost always mentioned in the same breath as the Brothers Quay, is an animator with a deeply philosophical, psychological bent whose mode de employ is the infinite variety of the grotesque. If you appreciate Joel-Peter Whitkin's stills, you will love Svankmajers films. Objects animated are people, tubers, taxidermilogical failures, etc. Svankmayer takes a thousand separate, shocking little pieces and combines them into a sublimely shocking whole. The end product is always bafflingly surreal and so over the top as to be beatific. His filmography is made up mostly of shorts, and two other feature length films, Alice (1988) and Faust (1996), all would be worth some footwork to catch a glimpse of his intricately wrought madness.

Conspirators is a cohesive series of vignettes about obsessive-compulsive fetishists whose paths cross, in so doing sparking a series of respective erotic destinies that are fulfilled via a spiraling puzzle like path. The movie itself defines fetishism, turning the everyday object or occurrence into a meaning laden ritual; in these cases lives are compelled by a collection of huge fetish projects: the porno stand engineer who is so in love with images that he constructs a television that can be made to love him back; the mail carrier who maniacally turns loaves of bread into compact little balls that she delivers to the news anchor who feeds them to carp who live in a bucket under her desk and get her off on camera (as part of the engineer's project); her husband who hears symphonies in pursuit of junk he later constructs tools that de Sade would have cried over; and a pair of neighbors who obsess over each other's murders, whose will finds a magical way. This film is a must-see just for the exquisite detail with which the nameless protagonist constructs the piece de triumph of all fetish objects- it cannot be hinted at in less than a volume. These frames speak volumes, a wordless cacophony. Conspirators could be seen as a sort of "The Making Of" a Jan Svankmajer animation- the sympathetic voodoo magic worked by a team of discreet players so intense that genius is sparked and makes vital and gorgeous the previously inert and obscene. I'd give this film one star for each story's achievement, plus one for the opening sequence of *truly* bizarre 17th Century porno woodcuts. A must see.

Two reviewers jointly favor Czech animator.
Conspirators was spectacular in weaving its characters and their strangeness together. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. American film keeps us sadly stuck in the 1980s, bullied into accepting only computer animation because it is easy, unsupportably expensive and you can do it with a pull-down menu. Jan Svankmajer's animation is hands-on, time-intensive studio work and palpably realistic. It challenges the limitations of that generation whose imaginations were teethed on music video. Svankmajer is comical, insightful and grotesque as a children's folk tale. He is a singularly visual storyteller. If you want a taste of Svankmajer and aren't ready for an adult theme, start with Alice.

good for begginers
this one from Jan was cool,but just not quite as trippy as Faust or his collection of short film dvds,I thought.I did think it was funny though!I liked the short film "food"(included w/ the dvd)better than "conspirators of pleasure",actually-and you can get that short w/ the jan collected shorts vol. 2 dvd.I couldn't see paying $26 for this dvd, though.get alice,collected shorts 1+2,or faust before this one.those are actually more worth the money as far as I'm concerned.

Utterly brilliant . . .
This was my introduction to Svankmajer -- and I am floored, even more so because his short "Food" is on this DVD as well. Many folks assume that they have a taste for underground cinema because they (rightly) prefer "Withnail & I" to the latest Queen Latifa/Steve Martin muck, and they've seen "Man Bites Dog" a couple of times . . . but this is REALLY underground cinema. It doesn't jiggle the camera or have a shallow visual gimmick like "Waking Life" -- it is hard to exactly give the flavor of this film. None of the audio is live, it seems -- and the exaggerated foley work of hands squishing clay and rolling little balls of bread with spit and even squeezing a tube of glue all becomes decadently marvelous. As these various folk pursue their, um, completely non-traditional fetishes, no explanations are given, and no ultimate conclusion to anything. But each individual minute is precious. This isn't a film where you can say to those who dislike it, "You didn't get it." There is nothing to "get" in that sense -- but how much tactile strangeness can you delight in? I think it is a masterpiece. Give it a try. Let the rest of the public go on thinking that insipid fluff like "Lost in Translation" is independently-minded cinema. THIS is the authentic underground.

"Fringe" doesn't even begin to describe it
This movie is so weird that I don't even know what to think of it. I question whether it is a truly Surrealist film - it's certainly a very _strange_ film, but "surreal" does not mean "strange", and it's time we buried that misconception once and for all - but it will likely appeal to fans of Surrealism and other avant-garde art.

The film follows about half a dozen characters through the machinations of their utterly bizarre fetishes - a woman who gets off by stuffing bread balls up her nose, a man who delights in the texture of live fish, and - well, I'm not even going to try to describe the chicken guy. Though the characters don't always realize it, their secret pursuits are linked by a web of tangents and coincidence.

Though the characters are ostensibly pursuing _sexual_ fetishes, there is very little about this movie that seems sexual. Real fetishes usually involve playing with power or social roles, but these people just like really specific (and really strange) inanimate objects. Their perversions seem to be more about the ritual than anything else.

Though the movie is mostly live-action, there are some of Svankmajer's trademark stop-motion sequences, such as the chicken man's rampage through the forest. Also, there is zero dialogue throughout the entire film, which actually works quite well, forcing the viewer to engage the unfolding events more directly, and contributing to the overall feeling of "what the [heck]are they doing?!"

Maybe this film is just the product of sheer self-indulgence on the part of Svankmajer, but it will certainly challenge you to think. I'm giving it the median rating of 3 stars not because it's a bad film (or because it's a _good_ film), but because it doesn't even exist on that continuum. It is what it is. You'll have to see it for yourself. ... Read more

Description

An extraordinary collection of Russias most important animated short films by Russias world renowned directors and artists.Winners of the top prizes at Annecy , Cannes, Colombo, Delhi, Espinho, Grijon, Hiroshima, Huesca, Kiev, Krakow Lille, London, Mamaia, Melbourne, Moscow New York, Oberhausen, Odense, Ottawa, Stuttgart, Sydney, Tampere, Tours, Venice, and Zagreb.Presented in anthology format for the first time.As seen on Bravo and the Independent Film Channel.This DVD covers the years 1962-1968.

Fyodor Khitruk Story of One Crime 1962 20 min
Fyodor Khitruk Man in A Frame 1966 10 min
Vadim Kurchevsky My Green Crocodile 1966 10 min
Andrei Khrjanovsky There Lived Kozyavin 1966 7 min
Rasa Strautmane Mountain of Dinosaurs 1967 10 min
Yefem Gamburg Passions of Spies 1967 20 min
Andrei Khrjanovsky Glass Harmonica 1968 20 min
Nikolai Serebryakov Ball of Yarn 1968 10 min
Anatoly Petrov Singing Teacher 1968 3 min
Fyodor Khitruk Film Film Film 1968 20 min ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A forgotten era
I really enjoyed these old Soviet-era shorts. People who don't understand the millieu will probably scratch their heads and not follow a few stories too well. (Even my fourty-something wife needed a brief explanation of the mindset behind the first one.) Russian humour is also somewhat different than our Western humour.

The animation styles aren't much to get excited about. They are all some fourty years old from a studio that wasn't on the cutting edge of animation technology. However, I found a lot of artistic appeal in the simple techniqes.

While I can't give it a perfect score, I found a lot of charm and enjoyment in these shorts from a bygone culture... with a small disturbing twinge with regard to how much the shorts reflect our own modern society's attitudes and direction.

Rather inconsequential...
This release did nothing at all for me. The storylines are weak and the art is dated and mediocre. These shorts strike me as the Soviet equivalent of those crufty, ephemeral 8mm films you find at flea markets and in the storerooms of elementary school libraries. Masterworks these are not.

Da, Da, Russia!
A great anthology of animated films from a country with a rich (yet often hidden) sense of humour. The films range from the Soviet system bashing of "Man in the Frame" & "There Lived Kozyavin" to morality plays such as "Ball of Wool" and "Glass Harmonica" to the delightful silliness of "Film, Film, Film" & "The Passion of Spies". These films provide a rare glimpse into the REAL world of the Soviet Union of the sixties. A rich compilation certain to please anyone who appreciates wit & wisdom in animation. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Mother love.
'Little Otik' tells its story from two female perspectives. The first is that of a young wife who, infertile like her husband, is depressed because she is childless. Buying a rural allotment to take their minds off their plight, the husband, in a moment of apocalyptic stupidity, digs up an old root and jokingly carves it into the shape of a baby. The mother, far from laughing, transfers all her pent-up maternal feelings onto the stump, even going so far as faking a pregnancy for the neighbours, wearing specially sized cushions each month. Mrs Horakova is an adult who regresses into childhood, who replaces the intolerableness of reality with fantasy and play, make-believing motherhood just as a child plays with its dolls.

The other primary viewpoint in the film belongs to Alzbetha, whose family lives facing the Horaks in a glum Prague tenement. Her development is in the opposite direction, from child to adult. A sturdy eleven-year-old, she is becoming a sexual creature, regularly ogled by the paedophile janitor, hiding sex-education books in a volume of fairy tales, dodging the blows of a comically brutal dad who freaks out every time his little girl declaims something 'adult'. Where Mrs. Horakova tries to hide reality, Alzbetha attempts to discover knowledge - she is a detective figure reading the clues of weirdness and death being left by her neighbours. It is almost as if knowledge is too much for women to bear, though, because discovery causes her moment of regress, and she replaces Mrs. Horakova as the wood's mother, resorting to increasingly desperate tactics to feed it. Because by this atage Otik has become an enormous, insatiable child, feeding on humans to sustain itself.

Facing each other like mirror reflections, these two households offer bizarre distortions on the idea of the family unit. 'Little Otik' is filmed with an austere but grotesque realism, with a shabby, small-minded Czech milieu not so different from the dank settings of Svankmajer's Communist-era films. Huge close-ups focus in on faces expresing (usually gross) appetite, whether for food, drink, sex, reassurance, family, knowledge or love. Equal prominence is given to things, especially food, whose sticky, lumpy liquidity becomes a uteral/infant displacement in a series of provocative visual puns. There are fantasies at the beginning of the film - such as when Mr. Horak sees babies everywhere, being sold like fish at a street market, or enwombed in a watermelon - but they are clearly signalled as such, as unreal as the violently unsubtle advertising that Alzbetha's couch potato father watches, usually for products that require no human input. Svankmajer's trademark puppetry is kept to a minimum, and, except in one case, is used to express character subjectivity (the girl eyeing the bulging trousers of the paedophile; her father witnessing live nails in his soup).

That one exception is little Otik himself, who is given life by the sheer force of his mother's desire, and is sustained by the collusion of the little girl. He is created by the father, and the film adds Frankenstein/Golem/Genesis resonances to its Kafka and fairy tale structure - but it is lifeless until the mother succours it. It is the two women who make it real, who displace drab and unjust reality with an all-consuming, murderous fantasy (it is significant that 'truth' is uncovered by reference to a folk tale). Fertility distorted devours all that surrounds it. The void of denial is filled by a monster who, through appetite, literally creates absence (appropriately, his victims represent authority, bureaucratic, generational and filial). I'm sure this is an allegory of some sort for modern Czech consumerism - as in Haneke's 'The Seventh Continent', a family unit is driven to ruthless besiege isself - but the relentless allusions to the director's previous film, the dark fairy tale mirror-worlds of 'Alice' and 'Down In The Cellar' expecially, suggest that the director is once more interested in burrowing the unexplored recesses of the mind, body and imagination. The result is his most uncomfortable and funny film in years.

The Svankmajer Touch
Master Czech animator Jan Svankmajer's latest film, Little Otik, is, among other things, a continuation of his fascination with surrealism and food (read: consumption). A 30s-ish woman's complete barrenness makes her extremely despondent until one day, her husband, as a bizarre joke, uproots a tree stump, trims and shapes it to resemble something vaguely human and presents it to her. Immediately identifying it as the baby she can never really have, she takes to it at once, dressing it, talking to it and lavishing so much attention on it that eventually it responds by springing to life.

The woman's fanatic obsession with the stump--now called Otanesk (Little Otik)--is so complete that she dedicates all her time to it, at first nursing it and later, realizing that "milk and carrot soup are not enough", spending enormously to buy vast quantities of food to satiate its voracious appetite. Alas, pork, porridge, and other comestibles themselves are still not enough. The mailman disappears. A social worker suffers the same fate. What to do?

The wily next door neighbor's daughter (a precocious 11-year old) befriends the by-now gigantic stump and cares for it feeding it what it most craves until--. Well, that's enough of the plot for now. Svankmajer even creates a fairy tale to explain Little Otik's history, illustrated in the flat colorful animation characteristic of the work of early animators from long ago. But aside from these short, intermittent segments and Otanesk's thrashing, the tremendously inventive Svankmajer's forte is not much on display.

In addition, at just under a full two hours, the film is somewhat overlong, definitely in need of editing. Yet the trademark Svankmajer focus on the aforementioned food/consumption (see Conspirators of Pleasure, as well as several early short films) is here for sure, as is his obvious delight in surreal images.

This is a work for Svankmajer fans as well as those who love the surreal (with more than a dose of the grotesque). For those who prefer more conventional fare, stay clear!

Suspension of Reality
This film suspended reality for me - I was entranced - the stop-motion technique alone lends to the eery feeling little Otesanek brings to the screen. I began to understand this woman's obsession with having a child - and how she would covet this tree trunk... am I mad??? Fabulous recreation of a disturbing fairy tale.

No spoilers here...
Anyone familiar with Jan Svanky's work already knows they'll love this from the box art alone. For those who are not, however, this is the perfect entry-level Svank film; this is rather tame compared to his other works, which is the only reason I give it 4 out of 5 stars. I like my Svank on far side of surreal.
It is a modern retelling of a classic Czech folk tale, and, like many such old stories, is quite disturbing on many levels. We in the west have fallen victim to disneyfication with most of our legends, a process through whcih most of them have lost much of their meaning, and all of their flavor.
Svankmeier has recognized this unpleasant trend, and subsequently has dedicated much of his recent films towards rekindling the surreal embers of our oral memories. Though you may not be familiar with the tale of little Otik, the journey of discovering who, or what, he is and what he represents to humanity is a genuine trip, one that should not be missed. If you maintain your sanity after viewing this, then get ready because the ride has just begun. I recommend moving on to Jan's other retellings, notably Alice and Faust.

Original, witty and horrific
"Once upon a time there lived a woodcutter and his wife who longed for a little baby..." That's how so many fairytales start and in this extraordinary, disturbing and witty film the fairytale is brought to life not in some suitably fairy-tale setting (as was the case in e.g. Cocteau's "La Belle et La Bete" or Jordan's "Company of Wolves") but in a dingy block of urban flats in central Europe. Here we find the childless, no longer so young, Bozena and Karel who are both hopelessly infertile and wholly in despair. But Karel digs up an old tree stump which looks a bit like a baby, cuts it up a bit to make the resemblance closer and gives it to his wife as a rather sick joke. Immediately, to his horror, she sets about loving it. She even sets up an elaborate fake pregnancy for herself so she can present it in public as her baby - though she soon learns that, given its appearance, she can't very easily do any such thing. Then after she has "given birth", Karel returns home to find the tree stump, named Otik, has somehow become alive and is hungrily suckling at his wife's breast. He wants to cut it to pieces with an axe but she desperately prevents him and they continue to feed it. It grows rapidly bigger and bigger and hungrier and hungrier. In a wonderfully horrible scene it attacks Bozena by grabbing her hair in its teeth. Then it eats their cat. Then it eats the postman. A social worker is sent round and asks to see the baby. "Don't be afraid, I'm not going to eat him", she says. Indeed, au contraire...

The dramatic centre of the film is not any of the characters so far mentioned so much as it is Alzbetka, the little girl next door, beautifully played by Kristina Adamcova. She has a precociously strong interest in everything to do with reproduction and motherhood and assiduously reads books on sex and obstetrics hidden inside the covers of fairy tale collections to evade the notice of her stuffy and anxious father. No one is quite as interested as Alzbetka in the parental lives of Karel and Bozena and soon she is the only person really alive to what is happening next door. But rather than being afraid of the monster she now has for a neighbour her attitude to it becomes maternal and protective...

If you like monster movies and fancy checking out something a bit different this is a good place to come. Indeed it is so enormously different that it is worth checking out if you ordinarily hate monster movies but are open to anything remarkable and imaginative. It's an excellent movie, though perhaps a little bit too long for so simple a tale and the end is a little slow coming. But the first half in particular, charting the surreal nightmare of Bozena's growing madness and then the horror of the suddenly living and feeding Otik is marvellous. Svankmajer doesn't have a monster-sized Hollywood special effects budget to create Otik but he does have a distinguished history as an animator and uses animation techniques to make something magnificantly creepy and horrible. Sometimes one is reminded of the hideous infant from Lynch's "Eraserhead" but really Svankmajer's Otik is like nothing else, a hideous confusion of roots and teeth. It might give you nightmares. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The 12 shorts in this collection were made at the Soyuzmultfilm Studioduring the late '80s, shortly before the collapse of the Soviet regime ended the subsidies that had financed the studio's output since its establishment in 1936. Nina Shorina's mordant stop-motion film "Door" (1986) probably ranks as the best known work in the anthology. The outré inhabitants of a crumbling apartment house go to enormous trouble getting in and out of the building without using the front door--even after a boy demonstrates that it's unlocked. "Door" satirizes the mismanaged life Soviet citizens endured for decades, but the rest of the films draw primarily on non-Russian sources for inspiration. Natasha Golovanova's charming "Boy Is a Boy" (1986) reflects the influence of British illustrator Ronald Searle; "Liberated Don Quixote" (1987) by Vadim Kurchevsky offers backgrounds that evoke the paintings of El Greco; Mikhail Aldashin and Peep Pedmanson borrowed heavily from the Hubley Studio films "Keke" (1988). While Shorina's "Alter Ego" (1989) resembles a watered-down version of the work of Czech surrealist animator Jan Svankmajer. Although many of the films are interesting and entertaining, the studio was clearly past its prime. The viewer looks in vain for the compelling personal visions of Yuri Norstein and Fyodor Khitruk, who dominated Soyuzmultfilm during its most creative period. Complete contents: 1. "Door," 2. "Boy Is a Boy," 3. "Liberated Don Quixote," 4. "Martinko," 5. "Big Underground Ball," 6."Cat and Clown," 7. "Dream," 8. "Kele," 9. "Alter Ego," 10. "Girlfriend," 11."Croak x Croak," 12. "Cat and Company." Unrated, it is suitable for ages 10 andolder for minor cartoon violence, grotesque imagery, and difficult themes. -- Charles Solomon ... Read more

Description

In four decades, Zagreb Film of Yugoslavia produced 600 animated films, winning more than 400 international awards. The studio quickly became famous for a unique animation style that became known as "the Zagreb school." One of the pioneering distinctions was that its filmmakers wrote, designed, and directed their own films, resulting in boldly entertaining cartoons unified in design, tone and message. This volume includes Be Careful What You Wish For, fourteen stories of irony, double cross, and mystery. Some are hilarious, some poignant, all memorable. The Classic Collection includes seven animated films representative of Zagreb's most unique offerings. ... Read more

Description

For the past forty years, Jan Svankmajer (Alice, Little Otik) has been hailed as one of cinema's most consistently surprising, wildly imaginative and remarkable surrealists of our time. Utilizing a delirious combination of puppets, humans, stop-motion animation and live action, Svankmajer's films conjure up a dreamlike universe that is at once dark, macabre, witty and perversely visceral. This collection of remarkable short works pays tribute to an artist that has mesmerized audiences the world over, inspiring filmmakers from the Brothers Quay to Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam. Volume 1 includes: "The Fall of the House of Usher," "A Game with Stones," "Et cetera," "Punch and July," "The Flat," "Picnic with Weissmann," "A Quiet Week in the House." ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Indispensable but uneven -- and FAR from complete
Jan Svankmajer's creepy, surreal films are unique. Though rarely gory in the usual sense, these movies have been known to disturb even the most jaded viewers, thanks largely to the disquieting use of stop-motion animation. These shorts make an excellent introduction -- or postlude -- to Svankmajer's dark feature films such as "Alice" and "Little Otik."

Svankmajer is at his best when focusing on nightmarish dream worlds: the malevolent apartment in "The Flat" or the subterranean horrors of "Down to the Cellar." When Svankmajer slips into political commentary, he becomes preachy and repetitive. "The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia" is already stale, and the dreadful "Et Cetera" is an exercise in aren't-we-clever monotony. Luckily, the lesser films don't detract from the remarkable experience of the greater ones.

One major drawback: although this pair of DVDs (sold separately) call themselves "The Collected Shorts," they are very far from complete. Favorites such as Jabberwocky and Darkness-Light-Darkness are nowhere to be found (though D-L-D is included on the DVD of "Alice"). Other works such as The Last Trick, Virile Games, The Ossuary, Leonardo's Diary, and J.S. Bach: Fantasia in G Minor have previously appeared on VHS in the US or UK, but are mysteriously absent from these DVDs. Several other missing shorts have never even had a VHS release: Historia naturae, The Garden, Don Juan, The Castle of Otranto, and Another Kind of Love. Given that these two DVDs are called "The Early Years" and "The Later Years," it does not appear that a third disc is planned -- though we can hope for "Vol. 3 - All the Other Films Not Previously Included." ... Read more

Amazon.com

The third volume of "The Hubley Collection" contains three of the innovative studio's most unusual and interesting works. Based on the writingsof psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, "Everybody Rides the Carousel" (1976) examines the stages of human personality development. "A Doonesbury Special" (1977) was the last film on which John and Faith Hubley collaborated, and it was their lastOscar nominee. Created with Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Garry Trudeau, this neglected television special brings to life the situations that appeared in the strip during the '70s: the football huddle, dinner at Walden Commune, the day-care center, etc. The familiar characters--Mike, Mark, Joannie, and Zonker--examine their present lives and how the legacy of the political activism of the '60s has affected each of them. In "My Universe Inside Out" (1996) Faith Hubley reflects on her own life and work, including her distinctly odd childhood, her life with John, their children, and the personal films she's made since his death.

The Hubleys use the medium of animation to explore often challenging ideas and find humor in quirky, personal ways. Their films are completely unlike the slapstick cartoons of the Hollywood studios but remain extremely satisfying in their own way. --Charles Solomon ... Read more

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Beginning in the mid-'50s, the husband-and-wife team of John and Faith Hubleybroke new ground in animation with their explorations of complex ideas,cutting-edge graphics, and jazz soundtracks. When jazz was still largelymarginalized as an art form in America, the Hubleys worked with Quincy Jones,Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, and LionelHampton. For visual inspiration, they looked to the paintings of Picasso,Matisse, Miro, Klee, and Modigliani. Their short films are very different from Hollywood cartoons. Thetranslucent, semi-abstract figures who embrace in The Tender Game suggestthe emotions of two young lovers, rather than their physical motions. InAdventures of an *, a child and his father shift between stylized humansforms and patterns of lines as they explore their evolving relationship. TheAcademy Award-winning The Hole, a debate between two construction workers on the folly of the nuclear arms race, features improvised dialogue by DizzieGillespie and George Mathews. Faith Hubley's The Cosmic Eye is afeature-length compilation of earlier material, linked with new animation. The Hubley films are adult in the best sense of the word: not sexuallyexplicit or gruesomely violent, but thoughtful, imaginative reflections onserious themes. --Charles Solomon ... Read more