Animation Theatre: Jan vankmajer

4th September 1934- Present

Fig. 1 Jan vankmajer

Jan vankmajer is a Czech filmmaker who cannot be categorised in terms of artistic media instead being more of a mixed media artist. He is known for his Surrealist tendencies in his filmmaking and because of this he has influenced many other filmmakers including The Brothers Quay. vankmajer was especially influenced by his introduction to the puppet theatre and this is evident through his hands on approach to his work, more interested in physically making solid objects to manipulate rather than go by the traditional hand-drawn approach. He is also keen to involve his hobby of collecting things and making what he calls a cabinet of curiosities which just shows where all the knick knacks such as out of his Alice animation came from. There is just one thing though; it is hard to even class vankmajer as an animator because he himself doesnt believe he is one. Animators tend to construct a closed work for themselves, like pigeon fanciers or rabbit breeders. vankmajer stated in an interview, I never call myself an animated filmmaker because I am interested not in animation techniques or creating a complete illusion, but in bringing life to everyday objects. (Jackson: 1997) Lets look at vankmajers Dimensions of Dialogue Part 2 (1982) and the clay figurines that he makes. vankmajer doesnt just use them as an animation device, telling the story around them. Instead, he uses the figures and the actual clay itself to tell it. He isnt worried about the clay staying smooth like other stop-motion filmmakers do but uses the tactile material to express the actual dimensions of dialogue. The fingerprint indents while they are kissing show the want for each other, the smooth movement of each clay figure against the other reminiscent of a sexual act, and the deep scratch outs of parts of clay can be viewed as a violent argument. Perhaps this scene of Dimensions of Dialogue Part 2 is symbolic of the unfortunate journey of love. This way of connoting is something that makes vankmajers work stand out. He uses objects as metaphors for emotions and ideas and even though you would think a real life film would convey this better somehow vankmajer does it in a far more emotive way.

Fig. 2 Dimensions of Dialogue Part 2

vankmajers Alice (1988) is probably the best example of his work which combines multiple of his techniques and expresses his surrealist stylisation truly effectively. We are all used to Walt Disneys adaptation of Alice in Wonderland yet there is something more fixating and emotionally affecting about vankmajers attempt at Lewis Carrolls classic. Even though the story of Alice is extremely well known vankmajer manages to create a sense of the unknown about it, there are times in his film that we just dont know what to make of such as the Taxidermist style appearance of the white rabbit, and along with the narrator voice constantly repeating for example said the white rabbit we are in ways disturbed by the film and it wouldnt be unusual to wish throughout your viewing that the narrators voice stopped. That along with the uncanny doll version of Alice-meant to show her at her tiny points of the story- moving about on screen, vankmajer adds an element of the horror that Disney didnt manage to encapsulate therefore, truly expressing the frightful thought of getting lost down a rabbit hole. This sense of ambiguity is what drives the film. Gone are the whimsical overtones of the Walt Disney feature. This is Alice in Wonderland as it was meant to be- a tale of a dark and mysterious child, who is a victim of her own delusions. (Renkovish: 2011)

Fig. 3 vankmajers Alice

There is a highly nightmarish atmosphere about Jan vankmajers work and so it isnt strange that his ideology is to make us relive viewing the world as a child. His surrealism is perfect for this as we not only have to try and understand his stories but we have to try and understand the surreal nature of his pieces, just like a child growing up trying to understand why the world around

them is as it is. If we revisit Dimensions of Dialogue Part 2 there is a highly childlike perception here in that children express through touching and physically exploring, thats why a child should be allowed to run around and risk hurting their knee, it opens them up to understanding the world. The infancy of this film is showing the suggested damage to love through a very physical hands on approach, just like a child playing with play doe and trying to make something out of it. This childlike expression is explored by Jonathan Owen. Svankmajers central aim in his approach to animation and filmmaking is to make us perceive the world as we did when we were infants. He strives to evoke and enliven that original wonder and responsiveness, that rich experience of the world teeming with new sensations, mysteries and imaginative incitements. Indeed the seamless vision of reality presented in Svankmajers films is itself the condition of infancy, of that time prior to imposition of verbal language. (Owen: 2011)

Bibliography
Jackson, Wendy, (1997) The Surrealist Conspirator: An Interview With Jan Svankmajer http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.3/issue2.3pages/2.3jacksonsvankmajer.html (Accessed 24/03/2012) Owen, Jonathan.L, (2011) Avant-garde to new wave: Czechoslovak cinema, surrealism and the sixties. U.S.A. Berghahn Books (Accessed 24/03/2012) Renkovish, Steven, (2011) Movie Review: Jan Svankmajer's 'Alice' is a terrifying trip down the rabbit hole - Greenville Indie Film | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/indie-film-in-greenvillems/movie-review-jan-svankmajer-s-alice-is-a-terrifying-trip-down-the-rabbit-hole-review (Accessed 24/03/2012)

List of Illustrations
Fig. 1. Jan vankmajer. [Online image].On amazonaws.com http://s3.amazonaws.com/auteurs_production/images/cast_member/458/original.png (Accessed 24/03/2012) Fig. 2 Dimensions of Dialogue Part 2. [Online image].On skillset.org http://blog.skillset.org/wpcontent/uploads/Dimensons_of_Dialogue1.jpg (Accessed 24/03/2012) Fig. 3 Jan vankmajers Alice. [Online image].On photobucket.com http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c246/4mrstaff/cinefobie/xnzajs4.jpg (Accessed 24/03/2012)