Jan Švankmajer: The Complete Short Films



The most comprehensive DVD collection ever assembled of all 26 short films by the legendary Czech Surrealist filmmaker-animator Jan Svankmajer is released by the BFI. Technically and conceptually astonishing in their own right, these films are also as remarkable for their philosophical consistency as for their frequently mind-boggling imagery.

Drawing on a tradition of Surrealism based in the capital of magic and alchemy - Prague - Svankmajer uses a range of techniques, combining live action, puppet theatre, stop-motion and drawn animation, claymation, cut-outs, re-edited archive footage and montage.

With nearly eight hours of material, compiled on three discs and packaged in a deluxe digipack with a 56-page illustrated booklet, the DVD is a truly must-have item for any Svankmajer fan. Its release follows a visit by the director to BFI Southbank on 29 May to discuss his work, after a preview of his latest film Lunacy. Lunacy opens for a two-week run on 1 June, part of a complete Jan Svankmajer retrospective season at BFI Southbank from 1 - 16 June, a selection of which will then go on tour.

Compiled by BFI Screenonline's Michael Brooke, who also produced last year's highly acclaimed release Quay Brothers: The Short Films 1979-2003, the DVD collection spans almost 30 years, from The Last Trick (1964) to Food (1992). All the classics are included - Punch and Judy, The Flat, Jabberwocky, Dimensions of Dialogue, Down to the Cellar and both versions of The Ossuary (with the original banned tour-guide soundtrack and the replacement music track), alongside many British video premieres. It even contains the music video made for former Stranglers front man Hugh Cornwell (Another Kind of Love) and two 'Art Breaks' created for MTV.

The third disc of two-and-a-half hours of extra material includes a bonus short, Johanes Doktor Faust (1958); the original 54-minute version of The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer (1984) with a brand new introduction by the Quay Brothers; the French documentary Les Chimres des Svankmajer (2001); interviews with Jan and Eva Svankmajer and examples of their work in other media. There's also a chance to see some Svankmajer special effects, created for commercial Czech features when he was banned from making his own films. The 54-page booklet includes an introduction to Svankmajer by Michael O'Pray; detailed film notes by Michael Brooke, Simon Field, Michael O'Pray, Julian Petley, A.L. Rees and Philip Strick; notes on the extras and much more.

Extras:

- Johanes Doktor Faust (Emil Radok, 1958)
- Nick Carter in Prague (Oldrich Lipsk, 1977 excerpts)
- The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer (Keith Griffiths, 1984)
- Les Chimres des Svankmajer (Bertrand Schmitt/Michel Leclerc, 2001)
- Czech TV Interview (2001)
- Lunacy trailer (2005)

It's definitely happening - too much money has been spent already! - but the choice was between releasing a compromised version before Christmas or waiting until we had everything we wanted and releasing in early 2007. I can't be any more precise about the date than that because I don't yet know myself - and neither can I divulge anything more about the contents for the moment.

But the Quay DVDs have been signed off, and look fabulous - I know I'm biased (to put it mildly), but my "wow!" reaction to seeing the final transfers on my home system was entirely genuine.

(I was more than familiar with the Digibeta masters, of course, but that's not quite the same thing as being able to see exactly what purchasers of the DVDs will see).

MichaelB, sorry if I sound like I'm intruding or something but about the Svankmajer releases: are we talking his shorts, his features or both?

Please ignore this question if you can't answer it. And thanks in advance.

I'm working on the shorts - but I believe the features (at least four, possibly all five) are also being readied for UK release on another label, and hopefully for next year as well.

Great news! Looking forward to those releases.

The May BFI Southbank guide is out, and on page 51 is a sneak preview of the upcoming Jan Švankmajer DVD box:


A few other snippets of info (and a couple of corrections):

1. The final title is actually Jan Švankmajer: The Complete Short Films;
2. A further short has been added to the package at the last minute, making 27 in total (i.e. four more than the US discs);
3. The documentaries are The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer (the original 54-minute version of what is better known as a Quay Brothers short) and Les Chimeres des Švankmajer, the latter presented with English subtitles for the first time.
4. The extras disc also includes a recent Czech TV interview with Švankmajer (mostly discussing his fine art) and samples of his special-effects work when he was banned from making his own films in the 1970s.

Also, Švankmajer is making a live appearance in London on Tuesday 29 May, following a screening of Lunacy - this starts at 6.30pm.

Expected street date?

Soon, but I'm not tempting fate by making premature announcements of a definite date, especially as some variables are outside my control (i.e. the BBFC vetting eight hours of material).

And I've seen what you lot do to Second Run and MoC if they're ten seconds later than originally scheduled!

Ouch!

Well, this is the most exciting release of the year, the decade even!

The Švankmajer box is now confirmed for 25 June - and unless anything completely unexpected happens, this won't be changing.

Despite Amazon, Play et al jumping the gun, it became increasingly obvious that May wasn't going to be possible without last-minute corners being cut, which would have been a crying shame given all the work that's gone into this release.

But believe you me, it'll be well worth the wait - and I know whereof I speak, as I spent a deliriously happy weekend watching the final transfers for the first time...

OK, here are some more Švankmajer leakages:

1) J.S.Bach - Fantasy in G minor, Švankmajer's only widescreen short, will have a 35mm-sourced anamorphic transfer for the first time ever on DVD. I'm particularly pleased about this, as the film is primarily a study of texture and needs all the detail it can muster. (All the other films are in the original 4:3).

2) Up to now, it's been general practice with Švankmajer's films to only bother subtitling those featuring spoken dialogue. This time round, we've subtitled absolutely everything: dialogue, credits and any relevant onscreen text - The Last Trick and The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia benefit especially from this. The latter still needs a fair knowledge of Czech history 1945-89 for full appreciation, but at least the various onscreen slogans are now comprehensible to non-Czechs - even if most of them turned out to be banal Marxist-Leninist drivel.

3) The booklet will be 56 pages, and will contain credits and detailed analyses of all the shorts by myself, Simon Field, Michael O'Pray, Julian Petley, A L Rees and the late Philip Strick. It also features an introduction by Michael O'Pray, biographies of Jan and Eva Švankmajer and the most comprehensive Švankmajer filmography yet assembled (stretching to the surprisingly extensive list of other people's films that he worked on in various capacities). It's in full colour throughout, and copiously illustrated with many rare stills.

...and it's still on course for June 25. And now that the BBFC has delivered its verdict (a 15, as predicted), things should run like clockwork.

Does this work include the credits for Juraj Herz's The Cremator? I don't think I've seen this actually confirmed anywhere.

No, because I wasn't aware that he did them. Quite a few other Herz films are included, though - and The Cremator gets a nod elsewhere in the booklet.

I've never seen confirmation of this either. In fact, I've never even heard it rumoured, though they certainly look very Svankmajerian (my immediate thought on first seeing the film was that JS was responsible), and there is an established connection between the two filmmakers. It would be nice to confirm one way or the other, and, at the very least, give appropriate credit to whoever was responsible for them.

Exact contemporaries (born on the same day), schoolfriends and creative partners both at the Laterna Magika theatre and on each other's films. In fact, Herz and Å vankmajer definitely worked together in 1968 (when The Cremator was made), as Herz appears in Å vankmajer's The Flat, as the bowler-hatted man with the chicken.

So there's every possibility that Å vankmajer made an uncredited contribution to The Cremator - if I get a chance, I'll ask him.

Amazon.co.uk now has the cover artwork for the Å vankmajer box - though the release date is still erroneously given as May 28 (it's 100% definitely June 25).

MovieMail has more accurate info, though the cover image is smaller.

The Svankmajer cover looks nice, though not as great as the Quay Brothers set (sorry Michael...). Still, I can't wait to get that release...

The BFI site has now covers and info on MacPherson's "Borderline" and the Ian Breakwell disc. "Borderline" seems amazing...
Still no sign of Svankmajer, the two new Mitchell&Kenyons and the much desired (at least by me) Painlevé disc

Moviemail is pulling our legs, right? Nick Carter in Prague as a special feature?!

Excerpts, not the whole thing!

It's a five-minute compilation of Å vankmajer-designed special effects shots.

One of these days, I'll learn to read.

Does BFI own the rights to the whole film?

No. The rightsholder was very keen indeed for us to take on the entire film, but I honestly don't think there's much of a market in Britain for slapstick Seventies Czech comedy-fantasies - at least not within the BFI's remit to promote outstanding world cinema. It's amusing enough, but hardly a lost classic - I can think of dozens of Czech films far more deserving of a UK release (including other films by Oldřich Lipský).

So we licensed five minutes maximum, which by lucky hap turned out to be precisely what we needed.

DVD Times has just uploaded Painlevé and Å vankmajer details, plus sample menu screens for the Å vankmajer package.

Am I misrembering or has the Painlevé been licensed by Zeitgeist for US release?

They look damn beautiful. Will have to double dip on the Painlevé as I own the French discs, but heh ho!

Incidentally anyone hoping to pick up the above - do yourself a huge favour and get the exquisite book on Painlevé Science is Fiction by Brico Press, before it goes out of print. You won't regret it.

Here's Marina Warner on Å vankmajer in today's Guardian - including comments on the new BFI release:


(The situation is actually worse than she's making out - Lunacy isn't out on a UK DVD either.)

Michael, congrats on the reception of what seems like a marvellous and must-own package. You have done the film community a great service by producing this release (and the Quay Brothers). I'm going to order it as soon as I can afford to!
Really looking forward to seeing what other projects you've got in the pipeline.