JanSvankmajer Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Review: Lunacy
Filed under: Foreign Language », Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Theatrical Reviews », New in Theaters », Cinematical Indie »
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Lunacy begins with an homage to the introduction of James Whales' Frankenstein, in which Edward van Sloan appears on a stage and warns us, the audience members: "I think it will thrill you. It may shock you. It might even...horrify you..." Here, director Jan Svankmajer appears on screen and offers a much lower appraisal of his own work: "What you're about to see is a horror film. It is not a work of art. Today, art is all but dead anyway." After watching his film, I may be inclined to agree. Lunacy is a fascinating, confusing and ultimately head-spinning mash-up of some minor Edgar Allen Poe and the hedonist excess 'philosophy' of the Marquis de Sade, all bundled together in a film that seems to have been lensed around 1974.
I'm drumming my fingers on the keyboard to think of a way to describe the film's other key element -- meat. Lots of meat. Slabs of uncooked steak, created in stop-motion animation, appear every five minutes or so in this picture. We cut to them, jiggling and dancing like the "Let's All Go to the Lobby" hot dogs in movie concession ads, backed by calliope music. Apparently, the director felt he needed this to hammer home the 'We Are Nothing But Meat' message he was trying to convey, in case we didn't get it from the scene in which the Marquis' dinner guests are ritually fellated by girls with mouths full of chocolate cake.
Tribeca Review: Lunacy
Filed under: Animation », Comedy », Foreign Language », Horror », Tribeca », Theatrical Reviews », Cinematical Indie »
If it was possible for collaboration between Luis Buñuel and Terry Gilliam the result might look something like Lunacy, the latest oddity from Czech filmmaker Jan Svankmajer. This bizarre "horror film," as the director simply labels it, is a vile and depraved examination of mental illness and the methods used to treat it. Wickedly funny and astonishingly conceived, the film is a nonstop cavalcade of shocks, surprises and enchantments. I loved every minute of it, and I can honestly state that I won't see a more brilliant picture at Tribeca this year.
Based loosely on writings by Edgar Allen Poe and inspired by the Marquis de Sade, Lunacy exists in a kind of overlap of present and past, seemingly set in 19th century France but anachronistically punctuated with modern inclusions like automobiles and bluejeans. It tells the ironically tragic story of Jean Berlot (Pavel Liska), a troubled young man on his way home from his mother's funeral. During his stopover at a country inn, he meets The Marquis (Jan Triska), a wealthy nobleman who invites Jan to come and stay with him on his estate. There, Jan witnesses a blasphemous ritual and an eccentric form of therapy, which The Marquis imagines may be helpful in the healing of Jan's own psychological ailments.
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