06.03.06
SIFF 2006, day 8
Lunacy
Czech Republic
A joyously pessimistic masterpiece from Jan Svankmajer, the master of Czech surrealism, Lunacy introduces us to a man whose horrifying dreams make his nights unbearable. An offer of assistance from a sadistic nobleman leads the man into an asylum where the doctors are even more dangerous than the patients.
Masterpiece? No. So, so, so disappointed in this. I knew I would be disappointed from the introductory prologue, which very carefully explained the entire film to us–influences, intent, and ideals. I am generally of the opinion that any film the director feels the need to explain to us is not thought to be strong enough to stand on its own and is therefore a failure before it starts. Plus, as soon as the words “Marquis de Sade” were mentioned as a source, I knew exactly where it was going, and I just find de Sade tired, numbing, and childish (yes, for all the perversion, childish in attitude and emotion).
This hardly even feels like a Svankmajer work (aside from his trademark unflattering held-too-long closeups and stop-motion animation with meat products, which didn’t really fit into the story on even an allegorical level this time). There’s very little humor and no originality; every plot twist was telegraphed. It’s not even particularly outrageous, at least to my jaundiced Western-secular sensibilities. There is definitely cynicism and a sense of defeated outrage, and I wonder if Svankmajer has had some kind of crisis of faith. Perhaps that’s the ultimate statement of the film, that there is so much disappointment that there’s no point in trying. Either way, it makes for a sad experience.