Insect

Jan Švankmajer, the surrealist Czech director known in particular for his animated films, continues to surprise us with his new opus, Insect. Characterised by his style which mixes animation and direct live action, stop-motion, very quick split editing with lots of camera movements, he is a role model in the world of animation. He notably received the Grand Prix and International Critics' Award for his short film Dimensions of Dialogue at the Annecy Festival in 1983.

The story takes place in a pub. It's Monday and the bar is closed. The chairs are on the tables, except in a corner of the room where six members of an amateur theatre group have met up for what looks like a rehearsal. On a raised platform across the room, the scenery has been set for the second act of The Life of the Insects, a satire by the Brothers Čapek. Insects' costumes hang on a coathanger.

In this new surrealist work, the actors start to step into the roles of their characters, all of whom are insects and whose successive metamorphisms we witness. The film maintains its pedagogic and conceptual tone from beginning to end, and it is brightened up by an array of costumes and a crescendo of inventivity!

Are you looking for an out of the ordinary animated film? You will enjoy this superb dramatisation by Jan Švankmajer!