5 posts categorized "Czech New Wave"

October 17, 2023

LITTLE OTIK — SHOCKTOBER!

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Thanks a lot acorns!

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Little otik poster

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.

ColeSmithey.com

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.

ColeSmithey.com

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.

ColeSmithey.com

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.

Screen Shot 2022-05-30 at 7.36.00 PM

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.”

ColeSmithey.com

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.

ColeSmithey.com

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.

ColeSmithey.com

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. 

5 Stars“ColeSmithey.com“ COLE MONSTERCozy Cole

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November 03, 2012

THE FIREMAN'S BALL — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

ColeSmithey.comWelcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon. Thanks a lot pal! Your generosity keeps the reviews coming!

ColeSmithey.com

 




ColeSmithey.com25 years before the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was declared a criminal organization and disbanded, director Milos Forman created a deceptively modest satire that nearly resulted in him being put in prison.

Forman was charged with sabotaging the socialist society. Forman might have had an abbreviated career were it not for French New Wave directors Francois Truffaut and Claude Berri joining together to purchase from famed producer Carlo Ponti, after Ponti backed out.

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Nonetheless, the 1967 comedy was banned “permanently and forever” by Communist censors at the time.

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A small Czech town’s fire brigade prepares for a fundraising ball and impromptu beauty pageant in the town hall. The unit’s eight aging firemen plan a tribute to their 86-year-old honorary chairman with an engraved miniature ax.

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A parade band anthem plays a victory march on the film’s soundtrack. The men wouldn’t normally give such an extravagant gift, but privileged knowledge regarding their chairman’s cancer prognosis — he doesn’t even know he has it — calls for some sacrifice. Well, you might think it would.

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A large table sits filled with numbered raffle prizes such as bottles of beer and wine, headcheese, cakes, and stuffed animals. Before the party even begins, items start to vanish. It seems the firemen also abide by the local value system that evangelizes, ”Who doesn’t steal is stealing away from his family.” The citizenry is so poor that they will pilfer anything to improve their impoverished existence. Forman’s use of a non-professional cast means that we are witnessing people playing themselves. The director creates a focused attack on the Communist system and the effect of its policies on a working class community.

ColeSmithey.com

“The Fireman’s Ball” bites all the more as a social satire because it seems to ridicule its own characters. Foreman doesn’t judge his characters’ absurd or ignorant behavior. He loves them. But he doesn’t attempt to mitigate their utter lack of common sense. 

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In a 2001 interview, Forman reveals the specific line from “The Firemen’s Ball” that incensed the Communist censor. It comes late in the film after the party hosts request that all stolen items be replaced to the table during a momentarily absolving period of darkness. When the lights go on, one of the firemen is caught tossing headcheese back onto the table. One of the other firemen berates his forthright colleague.

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Another one posits, “If you were in the same situation, you would have returned it too, because you’re honest.” To which the infuriated public servant replies, “The good name of the fire brigade means more to me than any honesty, you pighead!”

ColeSmithey.com

Milos Forman and his co-writers knew they were making a dangerous movie when they changed dialogue while they were shooting. That they located such an organic vehicle — a traditional public forum with a built-in cast — from which to emphasize a treasure trove of Communist Czechoslovakia social issues, is amazing.

Not Rated. 73 mins.

5 StarsColeSmithey.com

Cozy Cole

Cole Smithey on Patreon

August 12, 2011

LITTLE OTIK — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Welcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

ColeSmithey.com

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

ColeSmithey.com

 

 

Little otik poster

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.

ColeSmithey.com

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.

ColeSmithey.com

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.

ColeSmithey.com

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.

Screen Shot 2022-05-30 at 7.36.00 PM

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.”

ColeSmithey.com

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.

ColeSmithey.com

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.

ColeSmithey.com

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. 

5 Stars“ColeSmithey.com“ COLE MONSTERCozy Cole

Cole Smithey on Patreon

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