I recently saw an exhibit showcasing stills from Jan Svankmajer’s latest film, Surviving Life. Jan Svankmajer is a Czech-Slovakian surrealist who was born in 1934 and has been making films since the 1960s. His works are unique because of his blasphemous black humor, playful use of viewpoint, and the sensible and penetrating intellect that comes across in his works. At this moment various institutions around the world are exhibiting his work, including China, Germany and of course here in New York City. His film is a story about a middle-aged man who leads a double life. One of these lives is ground in this world, in reality, but the other life he lives it in his dreams. In his dreams he literally peruses the woman of his dreams, she wears a red suit. The main character, Evzen, goes to a psychoanalyst to have his dreams interpreted. Evzen then finds a way to enter he dreams of his own accord and we learn much about his childhood and his parents. He purchases a room so that he can spend more time sleeping and in his dreams. And when his wife, in reality forces him to chose only one of his lives, Evzen chooses the dreams.
I am very sorry to say that the exhibit did not include a showing of the actual film, but as I said it had on display many stills from the film. They did have a film that Svankmajer has created, it was a clay-mation, and it is what first caught my eye about this exhibit. In the film Svankmajer uses a mix of live-action film and cutout animation, to tell the story. In the surrealist fashion in nearly every scene the background is grey, bland and unimportant. While in the foreground we have bright colors, especially on people, like Evzen’s dream woman. The foreground also features very fantastical things such as huge apples rolling down the street, and naked chicken-headed women. Even more striking then the fantastical characters and things, Svankmajer uses huge amounts of grotesque imagery, such as the dead cow tongues, monstrously large snakes and Evzen’s boss who had the head of a dog. Svankmajer’s work is my first experience with surrealist work in the ‘codified’ platform of the museum. All that I can say is that I find that I am very much intrigued by the entire idea or surrealism, and that I absolutely love Svankmajer’s work. I can no longer imagine a life in which I do not know about Svankmajer’s work, he delves into many of my favorite topics, dreams, the psyche, sexuality and probably above all black humor. I must and I shall see this film, if it is the last thing I ever do!
DAS VIDEO!
Written by: Jan Svankmajer
Produced: Jaromir Kallista
Cinematography: Jan Ruzicka, Juraj Galvanek
Animation: Martin Kublak, Eva Jakoubkova, Jaroslave Mrazrek
Sound: Ivo Spalj
Costumes: Veronika Hruba
