Darkness Light Darkness
I loved this film. Perfect in every way. One of the best claymations I've seen
Jan Svankmajer
Films
The Last Trick
The Last Trick
Poslední trik pana Schwarcewalldea a pana Edgara
Dir. Jan Svankmajer
(1964)
11 minutes
- Genres:
- Animation / Stop-Motion & Puppetry
- Avant-garde / Surrealist
- Comedy / Anarchic Comedy
- International / European / Czech
- Short / Trick
- Fantasy / Magic
Two magicians perform an escalating series of tricks, most of which involve strange objects entering or exiting their plaster heads.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
J.S. Bach: Fantasia G-moll
Dir. Jan Svankmajer
(1965)
9 minutes
- Genres:
- Animation / Stop-Motion & Puppetry
- International / European / Czech
- Short / Non-Narrative
- Avant-garde / Surrealist
- Music / Tone Poem
The rare film to enter into deep conversation with a piece of music, in this case Bach’s “Fantasia in G Minor.”
Historia Naturae
Historia Naturae
Dir. Jan Svankmajer
(1967)
9 minutes
- Genres:
- Animation / Stop-Motion & Puppetry
- International / European / Czech
- Documentary / Science
- Drama / Portmanteau
- Short / Documentary
The obsessive nature of Jan Svankmajer’s animation has an encyclopedic bent in this unique panorama of natural history.
The Garden
The Garden
Zahrada
Dir. Jan Svankmajer
(1968)
16 minutes
- Genres:
- Comedy / Black Comedy
- International / European / Czech
- Avant-garde / Surrealist
- Cult / Psychotronic
- Drama / Political
- Short / Narrative
An unnerving fable of totalitarianism wrought in crisp black-and-white, THE GARDEN is an unusual live action effort from Czech animator Jan Svankmajer.
Don Juan
Don Juan
Don Sanche
Dir. Jan Svankmajer
(1969)
31 minutes
- Genres:
- Avant-garde / Surrealist
- International / European / Czech
- Animation / Stop-Motion & Puppetry
- Cult / Psychotronic
- Drama / Romantic Drama
- Adaptation / Theatrical / Stage
A story of appetite and destruction, DON JUAN has been a staple of puppet theatre for centuries. Jan Svankmajer brings this tradition to vivid and at times uncanny life in this dynamic film adaptation.
The Ossuary
The Ossuary
Kostnice
Dir. Jan Svankmajer
(1970)
10 minutes
- Genres:
- Documentary / History
- Short / Documentary
- Cult / Shockumentary
- International / European / Czech
- Classic / Classic Documentary
Though best known for his surreal animated films, this live action short is one Jan Svankmajer’s most disquieting visions of death and decay.
The Otrants Castle
The Otrants Castle
Otrantský zámek | The Castle of Otranto
Dir. Jan Svankmajer
(1977)
17 minutes
- Genres:
- Comedy / Mockumentary
- Animation / Cut-Out
- Adaptation / Literary / Prose
- Short / Narrative
Jorge Luis Borges might have delighted at this singular hybrid of mockumentary and animation, an adaption of "The Castle of Otranto" (often described as the first Gothic novel) once removed.
Manly Games
Manly Games
Muzne hry
Dir. Jan Svankmajer
(1988)
14 minutes
- Genres:
- Animation / Claymation
- Comedy / Black Comedy
- International / European / Czech
- Animation / Stop-Motion & Puppetry
- Cult / Psychotronic
- Short / Narrative
- Sport / Association Football
A man sits down with plenty of beer to watch a game of football but the points in this game tally body count rather than goals.
Darkness Light Darkness
Darkness Light Darkness
Tma, svetlo, tma
Dir. Jan Svankmajer
(1989)
7 minutes
- Genres:
- Avant-garde / Surrealist
- International / European / Czech
- Comedy / Anarchic Comedy
- Cult / Psychotronic
- Short / Narrative
- Animation / Claymation
A corporeal and Kafkaesque claymation from Czech surrealist Jan Svankmajer. Two hands find each other in a room and begin molding themselves into a human figure.
Genres
- Comedy / Anarchic Comedy
- Sport / Association Football
- Comedy / Black Comedy
- Classic / Classic Documentary
- Animation / Claymation
- Animation / Cut-Out
- International / European / Czech
- Short / Documentary
- Documentary / History
- Fantasy / Magic
- Comedy / Mockumentary
- Short / Narrative
- Short / Non-Narrative
- Drama / Political
- Drama / Portmanteau
- Adaptation / Literary / Prose
- Cult / Psychotronic
- Drama / Romantic Drama
- Documentary / Science
- Cult / Shockumentary
- Adaptation / Theatrical / Stage
- Animation / Stop-Motion & Puppetry
- Avant-garde / Surrealist
- Music / Tone Poem
- Short / Trick
Recent Reviews
Darkness Light Darkness
Nicely paced, neither too fast, nor too slow...continually gripping with what is expected and foreseen by the viewer. The realism of the claymation and Švankmajer's imagination are both simple and...
The Otrants Castle
VEry Silly
Manly Games
I've never seen anything by Jan Svankmajer that I haven't loved. Another fabulous film.
Darkness Light Darkness
funny, creative
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