Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7830 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-05-28
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Colour, Full Screen, PAL, Subtitled
• 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

Animated intrigue
For those who are unsure what they'll be getting with this, as I was...

A mixture of live action and stop-motion animation, Svankmajer's work is more surrealistic than anything else. It's not the jolly work of Aardman, all plasticine and comedy winks (good as that is), Svankmajer's work always seems to be referencing darker experiences. An example would be a couple of battling entertainers who both have giant papier mache heads like Frank Sidebottom. One produces a fish from his hat, opens the top of his head, puts the fish inside (his head is full of cogs and gears) and pulls out just the skeleton. The other opens his head to reveal a violin inside and so on. Or a game of stones, which has a clock dispensing pebbles that then form faces etc. Or a Punch and Joey, not Judy, show, in which the two puppets haggle over the sale of a guinea pig and end up beating each other to death with hammers.

It's cracking animation, but it is also very much art, so what meaning you get from it is dependent on how much you are willing to read into it. Certainly recommended.

Hats of for BFI
I've been a fan of Jan Svankmajer since 2002/2003(almost religiously a fan), and I have most of the releases by Svankmajer. But its sad, every time someone releases a compilation of his short movies its always missing some of his greatest works... and some of his stuff has been completely unavailable. And some you can only get as bonuses on his full-length movies. Its kind of been a mess.. so I am so intrigued that BFI made this box-set, which really is THE ultimate tribute to the long and unfairly overlooked genius) we know as Jan Svankmajer.
Its almost touching to see such a complete collection, with all his work. With a nice package, leaflets.. and lots and lots of well worth bonus-material. Even The Quay Brothers is interviewed and their tribute to Svankmajer is here.

Its nice to see stuff like The Ossuary on DVD, both the banned version and the one with music.. and Jabberwocky. And even some stuff I never got around to see, like Don Juan and The Garden.

Anyway, its really touching for a fan to see a compilation of his stuff done with so much care and respect for Jan Svankmajer. I recommend this release to everybody.

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.