Sílení (2005)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Jan Svankmajer

Writers:

Edgar Allan Poe (story) and
Marquis de Sade (story) ...

Release Date:

17 November 2005 (Czech Republic)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A horror movie testing two approaches to running an insane asylum - absolute freedom versus control and punishment...

Plot Keywords:

Therapy | Punishment | Marquis | Asylum | Nightmare

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Pavel Liska	...	Jean Berlot
Jan Triska	...	Marquis
Anna Geislerová	...	Charlotte
Jaroslav Dusek	...	Dr. Murlloppe
Martin Huba	...	Dr. Coulmiere
Pavel Nový	...	Servant Dominic
Stano Danciak	...	Innkeeper
Jirí Krytinár	...	Reciting Madman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ctirad Götz	...	Ostler
Iva Littmanová
Katerina Ruzicková
Jan Svankmajer	...	Himself
Katerina Valachová

Also Known As:

Lunacy (USA)

Runtime:

Japan:123 min | Czech Republic:118 min | Argentina:118 min

Country:

Czech Republic | Slovakia

Language:

Czech

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Czech Republic:15 | Japan:R-15 | Argentina:16

Company:

Athanor

Trivia:

The official Czech submission to the 2007 Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

a mesmerising film, but perhaps not as profound as I expected

The film opens with quite an unusual director's speech that invites us to consider what we are going to see as a pamphlet on our society rather than a work of art. So I did - and perhaps this is why the film left me slightly disappointed. As a work of visual art, it is superb, mesmerising and innovative, with little pieces of animation sandwiched between much larger parts played by actors. As far as the message is concerned, however, I was expecting more. Fair enough, the plot itself is quite perplexed and some of its turns will remain a puzzle even by the end of the film. But I kept thinking that if Haneke or, better still, Kieslowski were directing this film, the story would gain that subtlety and depth it was lacking.