Jan Svankmajer, "Lunacy" (2005)

Czech director Jan Svankmajer occupies a strange space in international cinema. He is best known for a series of animation films that gained widespread release. However his is not a cartoon craft- Svankmajer uses stop-motion photography to make his oddly dark and surreal films. His full-length features include Alice(1987), Faust(1994), Conspirators of Pleasure(1996), Little Otik(2000), and Lunacy(2005). If it weren't for the well-known movie-makers that he has influenced, he might probably still be unknown in the United States. Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton are the two biggest names to cite him as a direct influence. He has also left an indelible mark on the work of lesser known filmmakers like the Quay Brothers.

I first discovered Svankmajer with Alice. This take on Lewis Carroll's infamous children's book emphasizes the creepiness inherent in the original story. Incorporating a protagonist that alternates between human and doll form, Svankmajer's vision is subtly unnerving. Yet the master still finds a way to encapsulate the essence of childlike wonder. A child's inner life of imagination is not all fluffy clouds, rainbows, and cute creature of the forest. In fact fascination can quickly turn into fear with the appearance of out-sized objects and shifting perspectives. This is one of Svankmajer's strengths. In breathing life into inanimate objects, he upsets the platform of reason and unsettles the viewer. You could feel OK showing his version of Alice to a kid- but that kid better not be oversensitive or easily scared. His work can be nightmare inducing, even without the typical gore and violence we commonly shelter our children from.

Truly much of Svankmajer's oeuvre is wholly inappropriate for innocent eyes. In fact many adults will find his films difficult to watch. Aside from Alice, they deal with mature themes that often include potentially disturbing psychosexual undertones, My viewing of Lunacy reinforced my feeling that Svankmajer's films are only for the unconventional and open-minded. Lunacy uses the Marquis de Sade and Edgar Allan Poe for inspiration. On its face it's main plot thread is cliché. It deals with an asylum that is overtaken by its inmates. But it defies expectations by asking some serious questions about whether this scenario is altogether more disastrous than its opposite. While the mentally afflicted are clearly capable of atrocious behavior, the rigid control enforced by the "proper doctors" is depicted as outright sadism. Svankmajer is asking important questions about assumptions regarding the concept of "the natural order ". In true Sade-ian spirit he is calling God to account.

It's clear from the choice to include an introductory note from the director himself that the film's producers understood that the film wouldn't be easily digested. Aside from Svankmajer's on-camera contention that Lunacy is not art, I found his comments enlightening. Yet I still wasn't quite prepared to face the ensuing parade of animated cuts and pieces of raw meat. The symbolism of these segments is a bit heavy-handed, but does serve the cause of reminding the viewer of his/her essential nature within society. By the end of Lunacy the connection is drawn quite clearly. Unlike many other famous works of surrealism, we do know what has transpired. It's not art that seeks only to obfuscate its meaning. If it were, watching Svankmajer films might just prove to be unbearable.

As it is... and from what I have seen, Svankmajer's work is compelling. While it can't quite be called beautiful (given that much of the subject matter is grotesque and/or macabre), it is a feast for the eyes. But i do have to warn you that it's not always easy on the stomach.