Zvahlav aneb Saticky Slameného Huberta (1971)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Jan Svankmajer

Writers:

Lewis Carroll (poem)
Jan Svankmajer (writer)

Genre:

Animation | Short

Plot:

Lewis Carroll's poem is read and followed by a free-form animated depiction of images and toys from childhood, repeatedly overturned by a live cat. |

Plot Keywords:

Based On Poem

Also Known As:

Jabberwocky

Runtime:

14 min

Country:

Czechoslovakia

Language:

Czech

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Krátký Film Praha

This film sure got my hopes up--too bad it wasn't what it advertised

Considering that the English title for this short film is JABBERWOCKY and it began with a recitation of the Lewis Carroll poem, you'd think that this film was going to be "Jabberwocky". My daughter, a huge Carroll fan, sat in restless anticipation...and then, nothing!! Instead of Jabberwocky, the action on the screen had nothing to do with the poem and after a minute or so they even stopped reading the poem. From then on, it was a very fast-paced and super-weird stop-motion film set in a child's room circa 1900. For what seemed like an eternity, toys danced and moved in crazy manners. Some were even very creepy images--such as soups being made of assorted doll body parts. Now some of this stop-motion was very clever--especially the imagery and metaphors. But, at no point was it Jabberwocky. So what we have is passable entertainment and nothing more.

By the way, this film is part of the CINEMA 16: European Shorts DVD. On this DVD are 16 shorts. Most aren't great, though because it contains THE MAN WITHOUT A HEAD, COPY SHOP, RABBIT and WASP, it's an amazing DVD for lovers of short films and well worth buying.