“A strange nobleman returning after years abroad to a small Bohemian village in the beginning of 19th century. The nobleman feels closer to animals despite looking like a human. He is a Hastrman - a water spirit. Water is his element. He loves it, understands it and communicates with it. He needs water not only to sustain his life, but also to gain superhuman strength and dexterity. In this romantic, fantastical, yet ironic story, love brings Hastrman unexpected happiness with an agonizing dilemma: whether to remain a wild creature or to cross the boundaries and get closer to become a human. Vivid and earthy folklore of local villagers brings authenticity to pagan folkways, yet the story ends in present times.”
Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) - Prezít svuj zivot (teorie a praxe) (Slovakia, 2010)
Rating: 8/10 stars
I’ve long admired the work of Jan Švankmajer. His claymation shorts from the 70s and 80s are surrealist classics to this day. Although the famed Czech director is in his 80s now, his films are still cutting edge masterpieces. His trademark use of stop motion and montages of paper cutouts make his movies amongst the most unique in the world.
Surviving Life is the tale of a middle aged man who begins dreaming of another woman. A psychiatrist works with him to try and analyze the dreams from a Freudian/Jung perspective. Rather than wishing the dreams to stop, since he loves and is loyal to his wife, he wants them to continue and goes to great pains to induce them and direct them at his will. As with most dreams the plot is always shifting – characters change, plots unravel and redevelop in a new but slightly familiar form.
It’s a wild, surrealist ride with all sorts of animation wizardry intermixed with the story. You simply bask in the oddness of it all until the end when the various yarns all come together revealing the finished tapestry of this man’s past of which even he was unaware.
