The cabinet of Jan Svankmajer : Prague's alchemist of film / a film by Atelier Koninck, Keith Griffiths, Brothers Quay.

Format:

Video

Contributor:

Griffiths, Keith, 1947- producer.

Alexander Street Press.

Brothers Quay, animator.

Koninck Studios, production company.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Švankmajer, Jan, 1934-.

Švankmajer, Jan.

Genre:

Stop-motion animation films.

Video recordings.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (14 minutes)

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Zeitgeist, 1984.

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

data file

Summary:

This early film by renowned animators the Quay Brothers is structured as a series of little lessons in perception, taught by a puppet simulacrum of Jan Svankmajer, whose head is an opened book, to a doll whose head the master empties of dross and refills with a similar open book. Each of the nine segments or chapters 'refers variously to the importance of objects in Svankmajer's work, their transformation and bizarre combination through specifically cinematic techniques, the extraordinary power of the camera to 'make strange', the influence of Surrealism on Svankmajer's work, and the subversive and radical role of humor. Taken out of the context of the original Visions television documentary on Svankmajer, for which they served as illustration/commentary, these vignettes might at first sight seem a trifle bewildering. They ideally need to be viewed more than once before they begin to work effectively as quirky introductions to the Svankmajer universe. Then, however, they emerge as surprisingly charming and delightful excursions into this astonishing (and often deeply disturbing) directors work.'-- Julian Petley.

Notes:

Title from resource description page (viewed February 01, 2016).

OCLC:

945370355

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.