Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1860 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-05-28
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Full Screen, Black & White, Colour, Subtitled, PAL
• Original language: English, Czech, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 313 minutes

Synopsis
A comprehensive collection of shorts from acclaimed surrealist filmmaker Jan Svankmajer. Films include: THE LAST TRICK, FOOD, PUNCH AND JUDY, THE FLAT JABBERWOCKY, DIMENSIONS OF DIALOGUE, DOWN TO THE CELLAR and THE OSSUARY.

Customer Reviews

Another kind of love
At last! The finest collection of Svankmajer short films yet! If anybody can make it, the BFI in London has already released the set - I have my copy - before the official release date of 25th June.

It doesn't disappoint - the original version of the Ossuary is in here with the soundtrack that was banned upon release in 1970 - well worth seeing for the irascible 'tour guide'.

Special features include the first film that Svankmajer worked on - Johannes Doktor Faust (1958), excerpts from Nick Carter in Prague (1977), a French documentary - Les Chimeres des Svankmajer (2001), an interview for Czech TV in 2001, the homage to Jan Svankmajer by the Brothers Quay - The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer (1984) and a trailer for Sileni (Lunacy).

This is the ultimate collection of shorts and more than lives up to expectations. Having loved Svankmajer since Channel 4 started showing his films in the UK in the 80s, this collection has been long overdue, and thankfully the wait is over.

Complete Listings:

*Disc One*
The Last Trick (1964)
JS Bach - Fantasy in G Minor (1965)
A Game with Stones (1965)
Punch and Judy (1966)
Et Cetera (1966)
Historia, Naturae, Suita (1967)
The Garden (1968)
The Flat (1968)
Picnic with Weissman (1968)
A Quiet Week in the House (1969)
Don Juan (1969)
The Ossuary (1970) (Both versions)
Jabberwocky (1971)
Leonardo's Diary (1972)

*Disc Two*
The Castle of Otranto (1979)
The Fall of the House of Usher (1980)
Dimensions of Dialogue (1982)
Down to the Cellar (1983)
The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope (1983)
Virile Games (1988)
Another Kind of Love (1988)
Meat Love (1988)
Darkness-Light-Darkness (1989)
Flora (1989)
The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia (1990)
Food (1992)

*Disc Three - Extras*
Johannes Doktor Faust (1958)
Nick Carter in Prague (1977, excerpts)
The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer (1984)
Les Chimeres des Svankmajer (2001)
Czech TV Interview (2001)
Lunacy trailer (2005)

Genius
OMG! I've been waiting years for this release. I've seen most of these films and they are utterly wonderful. But I've never seen (e.g.) The Castle of Otranto before, and I can't wait. Please do listen out for the music; for the most part the scores were composed by the brilliant Zdenek Liska, and the pairing of Svankmajer and Liska was one of the most forceful and effective in the annals of cinema.

This is an UNMISSABLE release and an incredible bargain.

Easily one of the most exciting DVD releases of 2007!
Having been a longtime fan of the genius of the great Czech surrealist filmmaker's work, I'm pleased to see the BFI offering up a lavish set of Svankmajer's short films. Having come across some of his work on American public television years ago, I've been waiting for such a set to appear on DVD. If it's anything like the fab Quay Brothers set BFI released last year, we're in for a treat.

Oh and in response to the person below: the BFI bumped the release date up to 25 June 2007.