III. Jan Švankmajer
Hello again,
It has not been long since my last entry on this blog.
So, what's new?
In this weeks class, we were given an introductory lecture about Media Appreciation. We were then introduced to a filmmaker and artist known as Jan Svankmajer.
Jan was born in Prague and is known to be one of the great Czech filmmakers. His first film was first premiered in 1964 which then became a hit as well as an inspiration to other well known filmmakers such as Tim Burton, The Brothers Quay and Terry Gilliam.
Based on Jan's two films -- Down to the Cellar and Food, it is shown that his filmmaking style is by using the stop-motion technique, surrealism as well as using clay as apart of its medium.
What is Surrealism though?
From my sources, Surrealism is an artistic and literary movement. Surrealism's goal was to liberate thought, language and human experience from the oppressive boundaries of rationalism.Notable surrealists are Frida Kahlo and Salvador Dali. The Surrealist focuses on dreams, psychoanalysis and amazing imagery. Surrealism works are not very direct however, are leaning towards more of abstract act with vague context.
Down to the Cellar had a really eerie feeling as the color tones were very dimmed and cool so it was quite obvious to tell the film will not have a very happy or positive story line to it. Down to the Cellar is about a young little girl who was making her trip down to the cellar or basement (as the title implies) to get a few things and her fears of said basement is depicted animated form.
When i first watched the film, i first thought this film was about morality and the level or ranking of the classes (upper class, middle class & lower class). The young girl may have been the daughter of an upper class family who were very greedy and stingy. The girl however may have a heart of gold and did not care about what 'class' other people were. The people in the cellar had treated her very nicely.
The second film shown to us was called Food or Jidlo (in Czech) which was premiered in 1993. It had three different segments or sections, each representing the different meal times in everyday life which is Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. This film struck me as odd and somewhat out of context for me. However, after much help from a partially reliable source known as Google.com i found out that Jidlo is supposedly mocking how delicate the social ritual and conditioning are effective masks for brutal self destruction.
In my opinion, i guess the film is trying to say that you really sacrifice some part of yourself whether it's mentally or even physically to pursue your passion. This theory came to me when the Dinner section played as they showed various people in different situations eating a certain body part of their own (e.g; runner ate his own leg).
Personally, the films i've watched from Jan Svankmajer reminds me of Wes Anderson's films (notably; Fantastic Mr. Fox and Caroline) but in a more otherworldly way compared to Wes' films which are very bright colored as well as happy (most of the time).
If you're interested in the films i mentioned, here are the links;
Food
Down to the Cellar
Until my next entry, see you!
10.14PM
It has not been long since my last entry on this blog.
So, what's new?
In this weeks class, we were given an introductory lecture about Media Appreciation. We were then introduced to a filmmaker and artist known as Jan Svankmajer.
Jan was born in Prague and is known to be one of the great Czech filmmakers. His first film was first premiered in 1964 which then became a hit as well as an inspiration to other well known filmmakers such as Tim Burton, The Brothers Quay and Terry Gilliam.
Based on Jan's two films -- Down to the Cellar and Food, it is shown that his filmmaking style is by using the stop-motion technique, surrealism as well as using clay as apart of its medium.
What is Surrealism though?
From my sources, Surrealism is an artistic and literary movement. Surrealism's goal was to liberate thought, language and human experience from the oppressive boundaries of rationalism.Notable surrealists are Frida Kahlo and Salvador Dali. The Surrealist focuses on dreams, psychoanalysis and amazing imagery. Surrealism works are not very direct however, are leaning towards more of abstract act with vague context.
Down to the Cellar had a really eerie feeling as the color tones were very dimmed and cool so it was quite obvious to tell the film will not have a very happy or positive story line to it. Down to the Cellar is about a young little girl who was making her trip down to the cellar or basement (as the title implies) to get a few things and her fears of said basement is depicted animated form.
When i first watched the film, i first thought this film was about morality and the level or ranking of the classes (upper class, middle class & lower class). The young girl may have been the daughter of an upper class family who were very greedy and stingy. The girl however may have a heart of gold and did not care about what 'class' other people were. The people in the cellar had treated her very nicely.
 |
| A scene from Down to the Cellar |
 |
| The young girl mentioned. |
The second film shown to us was called Food or Jidlo (in Czech) which was premiered in 1993. It had three different segments or sections, each representing the different meal times in everyday life which is Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. This film struck me as odd and somewhat out of context for me. However, after much help from a partially reliable source known as Google.com i found out that Jidlo is supposedly mocking how delicate the social ritual and conditioning are effective masks for brutal self destruction.
In my opinion, i guess the film is trying to say that you really sacrifice some part of yourself whether it's mentally or even physically to pursue your passion. This theory came to me when the Dinner section played as they showed various people in different situations eating a certain body part of their own (e.g; runner ate his own leg).
 |
| Business & Vagabond. A scene from Jidlo/Food. |
Personally, the films i've watched from Jan Svankmajer reminds me of Wes Anderson's films (notably; Fantastic Mr. Fox and Caroline) but in a more otherworldly way compared to Wes' films which are very bright colored as well as happy (most of the time).
If you're interested in the films i mentioned, here are the links;
Food
Down to the Cellar
Until my next entry, see you!
10.14PM
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