"I don't actually animate objects -
I coerce their inner life out of them.
FEATURE FILMOGRAPHY
- Alice (Něco z Alenky, 1988) - IMDB/YouTube clip
Colour, 1.33:1, English and Czech dubs (neither is "original", but the Czech version has better lip-sync)
Faust (Lekce Faust, 1994) - IMDB/YouTube clip
Colour, 1.33:1, English and Czech dubs (neither is "original", no lip-sync issues)
Conspirators of Pleasure (Spiklenci slasti, 1996) - IMDB/YouTube clip
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content
Little Otík (Otesánek, 2000) - IMDB/YouTube trailer
Colour, 1.33:1, Czech dialogue
Lunacy (Šílení, 2005) - IMDB/YouTube trailer
Colour, 1.85:1, Czech dialogue
Surviving Life (Přežít svůj život, 2009?)
SHORT FILMOGRAPHY
- The Last Trick (Poslední trik pana Schwarcewalldea a pana Edgara, 1964) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content, but onscreen text.
J.S.Bach - Fantasy in G Minor (J.S. Bach fantasia g-moll, 1965) - IMDB
Black and white, 2.35:1, no spoken content
A Game With Stones (Spiel mit Steinen, 1965) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content
Punch and Judy/The Coffin Factory (Rakvičkárna, 1966) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content
Et Cetera (1966) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content, onscreen intertitles
Historia Naturae, Suita (1967) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content, onscreen intertitles in Latin
The Garden (Zahrada, 1967) - IMDB
Black and white, 1.33:1, Czech dialogue
The Flat (Byt, 1968) - IMDB
Black and white, 1.33:1, no spoken content
Picnic with Weissmann (Picknick mit Weissmann, 1968) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content
A Quiet Week in the House (Tichý týden v domě, 1969) - IMDB
Colour/Black and white, 1.33:1, no spoken content, onscreen text lists days of the week
Don Juan (Don Šajn, 1969) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, Czech dialogue
The Ossuary (Kostnice, 1970) - IMDB
This exists in two versions, each visually identical (black and white, 1.33:1), but with soundtracks featuring either an irascible tour guide (the original, Švankmajer-preferred version, banned by the Czech authorities) or a music track by Zdeněk Liška adapted from a Jacques Prévert poem). Both versions have spoken Czech content.
Jabberwocky (Žvahlav aneb Šatičky Slaměného Huberta, 1971) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, English original (recitation of the Lewis Carroll poem)
Leonardo's Diary (Leonardův deník, 1972) - IMDB
Black and white, 1.33:1, no spoken content
The Castle of Otranto (Otrantský zámek, 1973-79) - IMDB
Colour/black and white, 1.33:1, Czech dialogue and onscreen text
The Fall of the House of Usher (Zánik domu Usherů, 1980) - IMDB
Black and white, 1.33:1, Czech or English narration (although all video releases are Czech-only).
Dimensions of Dialogue (Možnosti dialogu, 1982) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content but Czech intertitles
Down to the Cellar (Do pivnice, 1982) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content
The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope (Kyvadlo, jáma a naděje, 1983) - IMDB
Black and white, 1.33:1, no spoken content but Czech intertitles
Virile Games/Manly Games (Mužné hry, 1988) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content
Another Kind of Love (1988) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, English original (Hugh Cornwell song lyrics)
Meat Love (Zamilované maso, 1988) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content
Darkness-Light-Darkness (Tma, světlo, tma, 1989) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content
Flora (1989) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content
The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia (Konec stalinismu v Čechách, 1990) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content but onscreen Czech text
Food (Jídlo, 1992) - IMDB
Colour, 1.33:1, no spoken content, English intertitles
ADDITIONAL FILMOGRAPHY
Although not part of the official Švankmajer canon, these films also feature contributions by him:
- Johanes doktor Faust (d. Emil Radok, 1958) - puppeteer and other uncredited roles
NB: This is included on the BFI's Jan Švankmajer: The Complete Short Films (Region 2 PAL)
Numbers (Číslice, d. Pavel Procházka, 1965) - design
Pictures of the Old World (Obrazy starého sveta, d. Dušan Hanák, 1972) - design
Nick Carter in Prague (Adéla ještě nevečeřela, d. Oldřich Lipský, 1977) - special effects
NB: The BFI's Jan Švankmajer: The Complete Short Films (Region 2 PAL) contains five minutes of Švankmajer's special effects. The entire film is available on the Czech Bonton label (Region 0 PAL), but without subtitles.
The Ninth Heart (Deváté srdce, d. Juraj Herz, 1978) - design and titles
The Watchmaker's Wedding Trip to the Coral Sea (Hodinářova svatební cesta korálovým mořem, d. Tomáš Svoboda, 1979) - title design
Madmen, Water Sprites and Hold-Your-Money-Tights (Blázni, vodníci a podvodníci, d. Tomáš Svoboda, 1980) - title design
The Mysterious Castle of the Carpathians (Tajemství hradu v Karpatech, d. Oldřich Lipský, 1981) - special effects
The Ferat Vampire (Upír z Feratu, d. Juraj Herz, 1981) - title design
Monster from the Arkan Galaxy (Monstrum z galaxie Arkana, d. Dušan Vukotic, 1982) - monster design
Three Veterans (Tři veteráni, d. Oldřich Lipský, 1983) - animation
The Visitors (Návštěvníci, 1983) - animation
Barrandov Nocturne (Barrandovské nocturno aneb Jak film zpíval a tančil, d. Vladimír Sís) - animated sequences
Scalpel, Please (Skalpel, prosím, d. Jiří Svoboda, 1985) - design
Freckled Max and the Spooks (Pehavý Max a strašidlá, d. Juraj Jakubisko, 1987) - design
Animated Self-Portraits (p. David Ehrlich, 1988)
(about Švankmajer himself, and with contributions)
- The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer (d. Keith Griffiths, 1984)
The first documentary on Švankmajer, with numerous clips and interviews with art historians and experts on Surrealism. The Quay Brothers short of the same name was compiled from their animated inserts. The original 54-minute documentary is included in the BFI's Jan Švankmajer: The Complete Short Films (Region 2 PAL).
Jan Švankmajer, The Animator of Prague (d. James Marsh, 1990)
NB: Included in the Kino/KimStim compilation The Collected Shorts of Jan Švankmajer (Region 0 NTSC)
L'Amour Fou: Ludvík Šváb (d. Martina Kudláček, 1995)
A portrait of Švankmajer's Czech Surrealist Group colleague, the psychiatrist Ludvík Šváb.
Laterna Magika - Life as a Dream (Laterna magika - život se snem, d. Petr Kaňka, 2001)
An affectionate portrait of the history of the famous Prague multimedia theatre, on which Švankmajer and many other Czech luminaries cut their creative teeth. Švankmajer is a contributor, as is Miloš Forman, and it includes a heartfelt eulogy to the composer Zdeněk Liška, who wrote most of the scores to Švankmajer's 1960s and 1970s films.
Les Chimères des Švankmajer (d. Bertrand Schmitt/Michel Leclerc, 2001)
The most comprehensive Švankmajer portrait to date. Available in two cuts of 58 minutes and 80 minutes. The shorter version is included in the BFI's Jan Švankmajer: The Complete Short Films (Region 2 PAL), with interviews in the original Czech and English, subtitled where necessary. The longer version is only available with a continuous French voiceover translation, and is out on DVD in France through Chalet Films (Region 0 PAL) - with no English subtitles.
The History of Painting and Sculpture (Příběhy obrazů a soch (d. AleÅ¡ Kisil, 2001)
This massive 13-part television series about the entire history of Czech visual art devoted 10 minutes to Jan and Eva Švankmajer - the relevant bit has been included on the BFI's Jan Švankmajer: The Complete Short Films (Region 2 PAL, with English subtitles)
- General Švankmajer thread
BFI thread (starting with the post where the Švankmajer box specs are revealed)
- 'Dream Works' by Marina Warner (The Guardian, 16 June 2007)
'Re-animating the Lost Objects d'Childhood and the Everyday' by Dirk de Bruyn (Senses of Cinema, May 2001)
'Jan Švankmajer: The Prodigious Animator from Prague' by Jan Uhde (Kinema, Spring 1994)
Reviews of Alice: Bloodtype Online (Jennie Milojevic); Challenging Destiny (James Schellenberg); Kinoeye (Brigid Cherry); Senses of Cinema (Dirk de Bruyn); Washington Post (Hal Hinson)
Reviews of Faust: Identity Theory (Mike Wood); The Mupsimus (Matthew Cheney); New York State Writers Institute (Kevin Hagopian); Ozus World (Dennis Schwarz); Wandering Scholars (Jonathan Marlow)
Reviews of Conspirators of Pleasure: Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer); Dispatches from Zembla (Alok); DVD Times (Michael Brooke); New York Times (Stephen Holden); SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review (Richard Scheib)
Reviews of Little OtÃk: Ain't It Cool News (Harold Hellman); Boston Phoenix (Steve Erickson); Bright Lights Film Journal (Gary Morris); Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson); New York Times (Elvis Mitchell)
Reviews of Lunacy: Electric Sheep (Stephen Thomson); Kinokultura (David Sorfa), The Observer (Philip French), Senses of Cinema (Sebastian Manley), Sight & Sound (Michael Brooke), Variety (Jay Weissberg), Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
- Zeitgeist Films
A Švankmajer timeline (Kinoblog)
- Vertigo, early 2007, by Michael Brooke
Indiewire, 2002, by Daniel Steinhart
The Context, circa 2000, by S F Said
Kamera.co.uk, circa 2000, by Jason Wood
Animation World News, 1997, by Wendy Jackson
- Moviemail Podcast: Graeme Hobbs and Michael Brooke discuss Jan Švankmajer's short films
Zeitgeist has PDF presskits for Conspirators of Pleasure, Little OtÃk and Lunacy
Kinoeye published extracts from Jan Švankmajer's diary when shooting Little Otík)
Drew's Script-O-Rama has a dialogue transcript of Little Otík (though at the time of writing it doesn't include any character names)
Article in The List about the stage adaptation of Little Otík at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre (subsequently reviewed in The Guardian by Mark Fisher).