Czech filmmaker Jan Svankmajer draws upon his long history of theatrical experience working with marionettes in this mysteriously comic retelling of an ancient Czech fairy tale.
Svankmajer marvelously intermingles stop-motion animation with live-action to tell the tale of an infertile married couple obsessed with having a child, even if that child is a murderous monster made of tree root.
Husband Karel Horák (Jan Hartl) finds inspiration in a tree root that he shapes into the body of a genetically correct branch-limbed baby boy. Karel’s wife Božena Horáková (Veronika Žilková) is overjoyed with the result. She hatches a plan involving nine handmade pillows of sequential sizes to publicly account for a gestation period that will allow her to act as a mother to the lifeless piece of wood. However, upon its “birth,” Otik comes to life.
Alzbetka (Kristina Adamcova) is a precocious pre-teen girl, obsessed with sex and babies, who lives in the couple’s apartment building. Her intense curiosity about Karel’s and Božena’s “baby” taps into the magical tale of “Otesánek,” that Alzbetka reads in a book of fairy tales.
Weirdness prevails. Little Otik proves to be an insatiably hungry baby. The family cat is turned into a pile of bloody bones. Otik gradually grows to a gargantuan size. The mailman also becomes a victim. The strange child-creature takes on a serial killer identity. Daddy wants to chop baby into splinters, but mommy won’t let him.
Svankmajer creates an undeniably original fairytale-tinged satire about the gruesome reality of childbirth and the tremendous social pressures that come with the duties of parenting. The picture resonates especially with David Lynch’s “Eraserhead.”
Božena’s compulsory overprotection of a baby she can never allow her neighbors to see is a point of high humor. She takes to putting a plastic toy-baby in the pram she that leaves outside while she shops. Božena, you see, is overprotective only to a point.
Most striking is the bizarre baby itself. With its flattop head, frayed branch appendages, and snout-like nose, Otik makes a strong case for the ugliest infant you’ve ever seen. Still, in spite of its unsightly appearance and reprehensible behavior, Božena can’t help but adore her creepy offspring.
Fairy tales are cautionary stories written to teach children hard lessons that most parents would rather not attempt to paraphrase. “Little Otik” is in a class all by itself. Jan Svankmajer is a mad genius of cinema. Nightmares may follow.
Not Rated. 132 mins.
