Darkness, Light, Darkness

Darkness, Light, Darkness 1989

7.60

A human body gradually reconstructs itself as its various component parts crowd themselves into a small room and eventually, after much experimentation, sort out which part goes where.

1989

Virile Games

Virile Games 1988

6.80

A man sits down to watch a football match, which seems to consist of the players being violently mutilated in various inventive ways. The players then leave the football pitch and invade the spectator's flat...

1988

The Pied Piper

The Pied Piper 1986

7.60

A darkly brilliant stop-motion adaptation of The Pied Piper of Hamelin about a plague of rats that punish townsfolk corrupt with greed. One of Czechoslovakia's most ambitious animation projects of the 1980s, notable for its unusual dark art direction, innovative animation techniques and use of a fictitious language.

1986

Fantastic Planet

Fantastic Planet 1973

7.70

On the planet Ygam, the Draags, extremely technologically and spiritually advanced blue humanoids, consider the tiny Oms, human beings descendants of Terra's inhabitants, as ignorant animals. Those who live in slavery are treated as simple pets and used to entertain Draag children; those who live hidden in the hostile wilderness of the planet are periodically hunted and ruthlessly slaughtered as if they were vermin.

1973

Castle of Otranto

Castle of Otranto 1977

6.60

"The Castle of Otranto" is animation/short/mockumentary based on "The Castle of Otranto", a 1764 novel by Horace Walpole, the first Gothic novel. The novel takes place in Otranto in southern Italy. In Jan Svankmajer's mocumentary, the amateur archaeologist Dr Vozáb has set to prove that the supernatural ghost love story takes place not in Italy but in Otranto Castle near Nachod in Czechoslovakia.

1977

Disc Jockey

Disc Jockey 1980

5.70

An alarm clock wakes a man who washes his face, has breakfast, drives his car to work, spins records, returns home, and takes his pills. It's a world of circles - often seen from above: an espresso cup, a stairwell, the pills, and the records spinning. At the dance where the music plays, the rhythms evoke images of a butcher slicing head cheese, gears driving other wheels and levers, a combine churning out bales of hay, a butcher cutting chunks of meat for a stew, and boxers punching. The circle of music and life.

1980

The King and the Elf

The King and the Elf 1980

6.50

Wealthy but alone, a king spends his days obsessively polishing shiny objects throughout his opulent castle. After a visit from a puckish forest wizard, the king earns a blessing – or curse – that turns anything he touches to gold.

1980

The Pit, the Pendulum and Hope

The Pit, the Pendulum and Hope 1983

6.80

A short film based on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" and Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's "A Torture by Hope".

1983

Leonardo's Diary

Leonardo's Diary 1972

6.50

Animated drawings inspired by Leonardo da Vinci are intercut with seemingly unrelated (but in fact strangely similar) live-action scenes.

1972

Unfinished Weekend

Unfinished Weekend 1970

1

A funny parody on comedies and horror films. A scientist tries to kidnap the beautiful wife of a dandy.

1970

Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a Sailor from York

Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a Sailor from York 1982

7.00

The picture, unlike the other film adaptations of the story, focuses much more on Crusoe’s life before and after his stay on the island. Following the principle of setting the novel right, it describes Crusoe’s experiences with delicate irony and understanding.

1982

Rübezahl und der Schuster

Rübezahl und der Schuster 1976

1

Animated fairy tale about the mountain ghost Rübezahl and his dealing with a thieving shoemaker.

1976

Briar-Rose or the Sleeping Beauty

Briar-Rose or the Sleeping Beauty 1990

6.20

On her fifteenth birthday the princess finds a diary written by her mother when she was young. The diary tells of the Queen's secret, early love. The Princess goes into the forest to meet her mother's former lover. When she looks into his eyes, she realizes why her mother had fallen in love...

1990

Oil Gobblers

Oil Gobblers 1988

6.60

A zoologist and a biochemist go out into an oilfield with a cameraman and filmmaker to observe and study the elusive oil gobblers.

1988

Faust's House

Faust's House 1977

1

A film story based on the old Prague legends. It tells about a poor student lured by wealth, which he prefers to knowledge. In the end, he sells his soul to the evil powers. The Devil takes him to hell and since then there is a blackened hole on the ceiling of a Prague house.

1977

Ostrov pro 6.000 budíků

Ostrov pro 6.000 budíků 1977

1

The first professional animated film by Petr Sís, who later became the great children's author-illustrator Peter Sís after emigrating to America. Based on an odd satiric story by Miloš Macourek; purportedly banned in Czechoslovakia upon its release.

1977

The Horns

The Horns 1986

10.00

A humorous modern fairy tale for adults about the life of devils. This is the story of a young couple in love: two devils named Artur and Blanka. Happiness for the young devil couple is disturbed and eventually destroyed by Artur's longing to keep up with others.

1986