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Animators

Jan Švankmajer (b.1934)

The Czech animator Jan Švankmajer works as a film-maker, designer, sculptor and graphic artist. He is a modern-day Surrealist and his films present a disturbingly aggressive vision of the world. They often combine live action with various forms of animation - puppets, claymation and pixillation. His films are works of considerable imagination and technical skill.

Švankmajer studied dramatic art and puppetry in Prague where he went on to found the Theatre of Masks. He has been a member of the Prague Surrealist Group since 1969. His first film The Last Trick (1964) established many of the elements of his approach. It is a contest between two magicians - two live actors wearing large masks - who sprout extra heads, animate furniture and even dismember each other in an attempt to prove superiority. The Flat (1968) is about a man who falls into a room only to be attacked by the furniture. Švankmajer admits that 'to my eyes, objects have always been livelier than human beings. More static but also more telling.'

From the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 until the resignation of the Communist government in 1989, the distribution of Švankmajer's work was restricted. Despite these difficulties, he managed to make several films, notably A Quiet Week in the House (1969), Jabberwocky (1971) and Virile Games (1988). One of the most remarkable made during this period was Dimensions of Dialogue (1982), which won several international prizes and led to the wider distribution of Švankmajer's work. This film is in three parts. In the first, a human shaped head made of cutlery devours another made of vegetables; in the second, a male and female figure made of plasticine touch and attempt to merge but end up tearing each other to pieces; and in the third, various objects emerge from the mouths of two heads in an increasingly frantic way that leads to utter exhaustion.

Švankmajer's talent for the absurd and the dreamlike (or nightmarish) found its natural outlet in his first feature film, Alice (1988) where he interprets Carroll's story in his inimitable way. His later work has included three features, including Faust (1994), a 'political' short, Death of Stalinism in Bohemia (1990), and further short films, two of which, Meatlove and Flora (both 1989), were made for MTV in the United States. Despite his reputation as a master animator Švankmajer insists that 'I never call myself an animated filmmaker, because I'm interested not in animation techniques or creating a complete illusion, but in bringing life to everyday objects. Surrealism exists in reality, not beside it.'