criterionforum.org

Posted: **Thu Mar 27, 2025 11:41 pm**

What A Disgrace wrote: Thu Mar 27, 2025 11:14 pm Deaf Crocodile mentioned that they're working on a boxed set of the complete works of a young filmmaker, could it be Norbert Pfaffenbichler, whom we know they are releasing a collection of films from?

I see no reason why it wouldn’t be considering the hype they’ve been building up for this release means it probably was something they’ve been working on for a long time, the only part that really bothers me is that it’s advertising a set of works from a young filmmaker which wouldn’t really make sense considering Norbert is 57. My bets are personally on the release of Achal Mishra’s films which we know Deaf Crocodile has at least some distribution rights for.

Posted: **Fri Mar 28, 2025 6:30 pm**

Deaf Crocodile April Releases:

Spoiler

INFLATABLE SEX DOLL OF THE WASTELANDS (KÔYA NO DACCHI WAIFU), 1967, 86 min. “Every day at 3 o’clock I’ve been killing you in my daydreams,” murmurs low-rent hitman Shô (Yûichi Minato), haunted by the death of his girlfriend five years earlier and seeking revenge on the gangster who killed her, in director/writer Atsushi Yamatoya’s eerie, seedy and dreamlike noir with fractured, time-bending overtones of John Boorman’s POINT BLANK and Christopher Nolan’s MEMENTO. Yamatoya co-wrote Seijun Suzuki’s BRANDED TO KILL (released the same year as this), and the films are companion pieces in many ways: subversive and jarring with strange flashbacks, inexplicable dialogue and song lyrics (“My burning dumdum goes flying, bites the enemy’s neck”), inserts that shatter the fourth wall, and a dissonant free jazz score. Produced by Keiko Satô, one of the few female producers in the underground Japanese pink film genre, the absurdly-titled INFLATABLE SEX DOLL is comparable to similar movies by American erotic auteurs Russ Meyer (FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!) and Radley Metzger at their most arthouse. The feverish S&M vibe and lurid B&W cinematography is like a junkie’s smack-induced nightmare: basically the cinematic equivalent of listening to the Velvet Underground’s “Venus In Furs” and “Sister Ray.” Recently rescued from the only surviving 35mm film elements by Rapid Eye Movies in Germany, and newly digitally restored by Craig Rogers for Deaf Crocodile.

Special Features:

New commentary by film historians Arne Venema and Mike Leeder.
New video interview with film professor Alexander Zahlten on the Pink Film subgenre in Japanese cinema.
New video essay by journalist and physical media expert Ryan Verrill (The Disc Connected) and film professor Dr. Will Dodson.
Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion.
New reversible wrap art by Beth Morris.
Deluxe Edition Bonus Content:

Slipcase featuring new illustration by Tony Stella
60-page illustrated book
New essay by film historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
New essay by Japanese film expert and musician Chris D.
New essay by film critic Walter Chaw.
Interview conducted with producer Keiko Satô of Kokuei Films, conducted by producer Hiromi Aihara of Bewiz

Spoiler

MUTANT ALIENS (2001, Plymptoons Studio, 81 min.) Legendary animator Bill Plympton’s lovably twisted tribute to alien invasion films ala THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH and MARS ATTACKS! features an American astronaut named Earl Jensen (voiced by Dan McComas) who’s intentionally stranded in space by his evil boss, Dr. Frubar (voiced by George Casden). Twenty years later, his now-grown daughter Josie (voiced by Francine Lobis) is an astronomer with some serious lust for her hunky boyfriend (their hanky panky is both R-rated and hilarious, with his phallus in turns transforming into a charging rhino, steam train and exploding volcano). Their lovemaking and Dr. Frubar’s evil plans are both interrupted by the unexpected return of her missing father, astronaut Earl – who reveals he apparently survived in space for the past two decades on a planet peopled (if that’s the right word) by aliens who resemble human body parts (tongues, fingers, eyeballs and unidentified pink blobs). As brilliantly weird as ever for Plympton, MUTANT ALIENS is also surprisingly sexy: astronaut Earl’s liaison with the fleshy pink alien blob queen shows that even in outer space, love knows no boundaries. Plympton also shares with David Lynch a kind of perverse wholesomeness in his fascination with nostalgic 1950s Americana undercut by a gleefully wicked sense of the bizarre and surreal.

Special Features

Two classic Plympton shorts:
“Hot Dog” (2008, 6 min.)
“The Cow Who Wanted To Be A Hamburger” (2010, 6 min.)
New video interview with Bill Plympton about the making of MUTANT ALIENS, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile.
New commentary track by animation producer and podcaster Adam Rackoff, podcaster and film critic James Hancock and longtime Plympton collaborator John Holderried of Plymptoons Studio.
New artwork by Beth Morris.
Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion.
Deluxe Edition Bonus Content

Slipcase featuring new wrap-around artwork by Bill Plympton!
60-page illustrated book
Introduction by Weird Al Yankovic
Essay by film critic Walter Chaw
Essay by screenwriter, playwright and film journalist Steven Peros

Posted: **Fri Apr 18, 2025 9:23 pm**

New announcements:

The Pied Piper 2-Disc Edition

THE PIED PIPER (KRYSAŘ), 1986, Czechoslovakia, 53 min. Director Jiří Barta’s stop-motion animated masterpiece, based on The Pied Piper of Hamelin, is set in a dark and twisted medieval village of narrow streets and weird Gothic arches, half-CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI and half-Jan van Eyck. The money-obsessed citizens, carved out of wood blocks and speaking in an onomatopoeic babble, are like George Grosz caricatures, literally spouting coins from their mouths instead of words. The rats are far more organic and sympathetic, made of real fur and whiskers, constantly tunneling and burrowing under the towering arches and cobblestone streets above. Fans of fellow Czech animation legend Jan Švankmajer and the Brothers Quay will adore Barta’s eerie, Expressionist gem, restored by Deaf Crocodile in association with Krátký Film Praha and Comeback Company.

This new Deluxe 2-Disc Edition will feature seven beautifully restored Barta short films.

RIDDLES FOR A CANDY (1978, 8 min.) In Barta’s debut short, a fantastical anteater-shaped creature must solve complicated riddles posed by a magical book.
DISC JOCKEY (1980, 10 min.). Everyday life is a world of discs: plates, ashtrays, buttons, a copy of “Abbey Road,” in Barta’s satire of empty modern life.
THE DESIGN (1981, 6 min.). An apartment block comes to life on a drafting board, in Barta’s critique of state-socialist housing.
THE VANISHED WORLD OF GLOVES (1982, 16 min.), a marvelous tour through the history of cinema.
A BALLAD ABOUT GREEN WOOD (1983, 11 min.) A miniature masterpiece about the occult mysteries of earth, sky, stone, wood and snow.
THE LAST THEFT (1987, 21 min.) Barta’s spectral ghost story follows a thief who breaks into an apparently-abandoned mansion to loot it of its treasures.
THE CLUB OF THE LAID OFF (1989, 25 min.) Barta’s disturbing stop-motion gem is set in a decrepit apartment where wooden mannequins mimic their almost-human "lives."

The Devil’s Bride

THE DEVIL’S BRIDE (VELNIO NUOTAKA) – 1974, Lithuanian Film Centre, 78 min. Imagine a wildly surreal early 1970s Lithuanian rock opera directed by Ken Russell circa TOMMY that is equal parts JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (wailing guitar-heavy ballads, religious theme), FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (rural village setting) and THE WICKER MAN / BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW (folklore / folk magic), and you have some idea of the elemental strangeness and beauty of director Arūnas Žebriūnas’ THE DEVIL’S BRIDE. The film opens with one of our favorite musical sequences ever: a long-haired flower child God sits on his throne in the heavenly mountains, adored by angelic hosts in white robes and wings. Suddenly the guitars kick in, the angels throw off their robes revealing orange Mod dresses and bowler hats, and the party descends into a choreographed pansexual orgy like nothing you’ve ever seen. An incredibly ambitious sung-through musical ala THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (where the entire story is performed in song without traditional dialogue), the story revolves around a devil named Pinčiukas (Gediminas Girdvainis) who is booted out of Heaven and drops into a frog pond owned by farmer Baltaragis (Vasilijus Simčičius). Quick as you can say “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” Pinčiukas promises him the hand of his beautiful blonde love Marcelė (Vaiva Mainelytė) in exchange for their as-yet unborn daughter Jurga (also played by Mainelytė as an adult), and wicked complications ensue over the years. Based on the book Whitehorn's Windmill by Kazys Boruta with music by Viačeslavas Ganelinas and utterly stunning, crystal-pure cinematography by Algimantas Mockus, the film is interlaced with Lithuanian folklore and surreal images: legions of female devils riding bareback on horses; a black carriage drawn by a team of devils disappearing into the waters of a lake; rituals of mistletoe roots and rowan berries and straw men. In a wild twist, the devil Pinčiukas winds up being one of the most sympathetic characters, doomed to live on earth while he longs to return to Heaven. A beloved cult hit in Lithuania and a major rediscovery for fans of film musicals, THE DEVIL’S BRIDE has been beautifully restored by the Lithuanian Film Centre for its first-ever U.S. release by Deaf Crocodile. In Lithuanian with English subtitles.

Posted: **Sat Apr 19, 2025 12:19 am**

More short films seems like a worthy purchase in their own right, although I wish they could have paired these films with his other feature, instead of just re-releasing the first.

Posted: **Sat Apr 19, 2025 12:24 am**

What A Disgrace wrote: Sat Apr 19, 2025 12:19 am More short films seems like a worthy purchase in their own right, although I wish they could have paired these films with his other feature, instead of just re-releasing the first.

I’m pretty sure the licensor for the newly listed shorts alongside The Pied Piper are the same while Toys in the Attic falls under a different distributor so I imagine they thought it’d be easier to just do the films from the same licensor rather than go through the trouble of negotiating new deals. A similar thing I’m pretty sure also happened with the Freckled Max release regarding why the miniseries and theatrical film couldn’t be paired up together.

Posted: **Sat Apr 19, 2025 5:22 am**

as someone who missed the initial Pied Piper run, and initial DC run in general and have been buying all the new slipcover, non Vinegar Syndrome-associated releases, I'm pleased with this. but I can also totally understand where someone who already has the original version questions the matter. but it does make sense in terms of licensors ....so not really a good solution overall here

anyway, a Lithuanian movie!

Posted: **Sat Apr 19, 2025 11:17 am**

And not just any old Lithuanian movie - The Devil's Bride is a complete one-off in Lithuanian cinema, and pretty much in Soviet cinema as a whole (since Lithuania was a Soviet satellite when it was made) – in fact, if it hadn't been for Soviet backing and resources it's unlikely the Lithuanian Film Studio would have attempted something quite as insanely ambitious as an original sung-through film musical.

In fact, very few people have – most such things tended to be based on established stage works, so films like The Devil's Bride, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Kornél Mundruczó's much later Johanna, etc., are extreme outliers to this day.

Posted: **Sun Apr 20, 2025 9:43 am**

MichaelB wrote:In fact, very few people have – most such things tended to be based on established stage works, so films like The Devil's Bride, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Kornél Mundruczó's much later Johanna, etc., are extreme outliers to this day.

That's why it's really unfortunate Rock'n Roll Wolf (aka Mama) had to be cancelled. I grew up with a Russian version and I presumed about Romanian, but I had no idea they also filmed the English language version.

Posted: **Sun Apr 20, 2025 2:08 pm**

TechnicolorAcid wrote: Sat Apr 19, 2025 12:24 am
What A Disgrace wrote: Sat Apr 19, 2025 12:19 am More short films seems like a worthy purchase in their own right, although I wish they could have paired these films with his other feature, instead of just re-releasing the first.
I’m pretty sure the licensor for the newly listed shorts alongside The Pied Piper are the same while Toys in the Attic falls under a different distributor so I imagine they thought it’d be easier to just do the films from the same licensor rather than go through the trouble of negotiating new deals. A similar thing I’m pretty sure also happened with the Freckled Max release regarding why the miniseries and theatrical film couldn’t be paired up together.

Side note but I’m also pretty sure that the decision not to include Toys in the Attic besides rights in this release is probably inspired by the old Labyrinth of Darkness disc since both releases feature the same shorts alongside The Pied Piper.

Posted: **Fri Apr 25, 2025 4:26 pm**

Treasures of Soviet Animation Volume 1

Spoiler

Deaf Crocodile presents the first volume in a series of new restorations of classic and rare Soviet animated gems from the vaults of the legendary Soyuzmultfilm studios.

THE MYSTERY OF THE THIRD PLANET (TAYNA TRETEY PLANETY), 1981, Soyuzmultfilm, 48 min. Dir. Roman Kachanov. A trio of intrepid space explorers, Professor Seleznyov, his 9-year old daughter Alisa and the hilariously doom-and-gloom Captain Zelyonyy set off on a rocket ship in the year 2181 to collect rare alien creatures for the Moscow Zoo. They’re immediately drawn into an amazingly convoluted mystery involving a sinister doctor named Verkhovtsev, a nearly-extinct Chatter-bird, and two legendary missing cosmonauts, while galaxy hopping from one wildly colorful planet to the next. A delirious cosmic treat for fans of FANTASTIC PLANET and DELTA SPACE MISSION, MYSTERY… features a gallery of psychedelic space creatures straight out of YELLOW SUBMARINE. Based on “Alisa’s Voyage” by famed sci-fi author Kir Bulychev, Kachanov’s long sought-after gem packs enough plot, surreal imagery, and otherworldly worlds into its 48 minutes for an entire mini-series. In Russian with English subtitles.

THE RETURN (VOZVRASHCHENIE), 1980, Soyuzmultfilm, 10 min. – In Vladimir Tarasov's mind bending psychedelic masterpiece, a sleeping cosmonaut hurtles unaware towards his home planet -- but will he awake in time? Newly restored by Deaf Crocodile.

THE PASS (PEREVAL), 1988, Soyuzmultfilm, 30 min. “On this night, Oleg was on duty near the fence … He sensed the emptiness and the routine. Three times people went to the Pass. It was all in vain.” So begins Russian director Vladimir Tarasov’s sublime masterpiece of animated sci-fi in which a group of terrified human survivors on an alien world try to reach their derelict spacecraft 16 years after it crashed. On par with Tarkovsky’s SOLARIS and STALKER as one of the most hypnotic and visually stunning science-fiction stories ever filmed, THE PASS is filled with cascading, pulsating images: night creatures that bleed in from the darkness to attack, a cat’s eyes flickering in the candlelight, frightened children reciting stories of another planet, another time. THE PASS is the longest of Tarasov’s works and arguably his finest achievement, adapted from the first chapter in sci-fi author Kir Bulychev’s novel “The Settlement.” Both films were newly restored by Deaf Crocodile for their first-ever U.S. Blu-ray release. Co-presented with Seagull Films. In Russian with English subtitles.

Special Features:
Two new video essays on Roman Kachanov and Vladimir Tarasov by film historian Evan Chester
New commentary track by Adam Rackoff, James Hancock and Martin Kessler
New artwork by Beth Morris.
Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion

Deluxe Edition Bonus Content:
Limited to 1250 units
Slipcase featuring new artwork by Haleigh Buck
60-page illustrated book
New essay by film historian & professor Jennifer Lynde Barker
New essay by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central)

Also appears that the Norstein set has become Volume 3 now with the Brumberg Sisters set being Volume 6.

Posted: **Fri Apr 25, 2025 6:29 pm**

My pre-order for The Mystery of the Third Planet is in. Very excited to see a restored version of this huge childhood favorite of mine. Tarasov's films are great too, although I wish they included his fabulous short Contract based on a short story by Robert Silverberg.

Posted: **Fri Apr 25, 2025 6:40 pm**

I do hope that this set sells well enough that further deep dives occur in his and Kachanov’s filmography, especially Kachanov’s Cheburashka series which to my knowledge has unfairly only ever received a VHS in America despite it’s mass potential for rediscovery in the West.

Edit: Speaking of directors in this set working on massively popular USSR cartoons apparently Tarasov helped co-direct two episodes of the Tom and Jerry inspired Ну, погоди series which I remember having fond memories of watching as a child.

Posted: **Mon Apr 28, 2025 7:58 pm**

TechnicolorAcid wrote: Fri Apr 25, 2025 6:40 pm I do hope that this set sells well enough that further deep dives occur in his and Kachanov’s filmography, especially Kachanov’s Cheburashka series which to my knowledge has unfairly only ever received a VHS in America despite it’s mass potential for rediscovery in the West.

I hope they do well too! Yes, Cheburashka would be amazing, it is such a lovely series.

I wonder if Yuri Norstein's collection will have the same restorations/encodes as the excellent Japanese edition, or even newer restorations? Also very curious about any new extras. It would be awesome if they could include the finished segments from The Overcoat. I watched about 20 minutes of it at the Norstein/Yarbusova exhibit in NYC a few years ago, and it was spellbinding.

As for the future Treasures of Soviet Animation volumes, I would love them to include Russian cartoons based on Winnie-the-Pooh, The Bremen Town Musicians and Karlsson-on-the-Roof, as well as Leonid Nosyrev's wonderful series started with The Magic Ring (1979) based on Boris Shergin's collection of Northern folk tales, scripted by Yuri Koval and narrated by the incomparable Evgeniy Leonov.

Outside of the Soviet Animation series, my dream for Deaf Crocodile is to release a collection of films by a Russian-born animator, Pjotr Sapegin, who works in Norway.

Posted: **Mon Apr 28, 2025 8:24 pm**

I agree that the Winnie the Pooh series is another set I hope gets released but I do hope that if/when it does we get Khitruk’s other shorts as well especially Film, Film, Film which is a wonderfully sharp look into the film industry.

Posted: **Tue Apr 29, 2025 4:09 am**

TechnicolorAcid wrote: Mon Apr 28, 2025 8:24 pm I agree that the Winnie the Pooh series is another set I hope gets released but I do hope that if/when it does we get Khitruk’s other shorts as well especially Film, Film, Film which is a wonderfully sharp look into the film industry.

Good call for Khitruk’s Film, Film, Film, TechicolorAcid! I watched it again recently after many years and greatly enjoyed it.

The other two masterpieces of Soviet animation that I would dearly love to see restored are Khalif-Stork (1981) and Very Blue Beard (1979).

Posted: **Tue Apr 29, 2025 4:24 am**

Looking at the list of Soviet Animation that I have I’m also very much hoping for the Prostokvashino series, the Treasure Island series (which nowadays is most famous for the meme formed around Dr. Livesy), the works of Vladimir Pekar, The Wild Swans, the ‘75 version of The Humpbacked Horse and of course, the plethora of other fabulous shorts made by Soyuzmultfilm from Glass Harmonica to Cipollino.

Posted: **Tue Apr 29, 2025 4:57 am**

TechnicolorAcid wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 4:24 am Looking at the list of Soviet Animation that I have I’m also very much hoping for the Prostokvashino series, the Treasure Island series (which nowadays is most famous for the meme formed around Dr. Livesy), the works of Vladimir Pekar, The Wild Swans, the ‘75 version of The Humpbacked Horse and of course, the plethora of other fabulous shorts made by Soyuzmultfilm from Glass Harmonica to Cipollino.

Yes!!! And how about a collection of films by Eduard Nazarov?

Posted: **Tue Apr 29, 2025 5:15 am**

Certainly could be a possibility although I’m not sure how well a standalone set of his films would do but while we’re still actively recommending things and since the founders have stated the films they release just have to be ones that they like, how about we get them to release the works of Eldar Ryazanov (which share a key actor with Nazarov’s work in Georgi Burkov) since it seems like they’re the only company right now with some sort of deal with Mosfilm, especially his 60s and 70s catalog which is filled with a boatload of overlooked masterpieces.

Posted: **Tue Apr 29, 2025 5:29 am**

TechnicolorAcid wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 5:15 am how about we get them to release the works of Eldar Ryazanov (which share a key actor with Nazarov’s work in Georgi Burkov)

We are talking about Eduard Nazarov the animation director, right?
Ryazanov's films would be fantastic, of course, and based on the Russian Blu-ray editions quite a number of them were restored.

Posted: **Tue Apr 29, 2025 5:42 am**

Yakushima wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 5:29 am
TechnicolorAcid wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 5:15 am how about we get them to release the works of Eldar Ryazanov (which share a key actor with Nazarov’s work in Georgi Burkov)
We are talking about Eduard Nazarov the animation director, right?
Ryazanov's films would be fantastic, of course, and based on the Russian Blu-ray editions quite a number of them were restored.

Yes Nazarov’s film Once Upon a Time There Lived a Dog features Burkov as one of the leads which is how I was reminded of Ryazanov. As for the Blu-Rays I believe they’re unsubbed and BD-Rs like most other Russian Blu-Rays which is in part my reasoning for wanting them to released here (though I do own Office Romance on a shifty bootleg as it’s become one of my favorites of all time).

Posted: **Thu May 01, 2025 3:10 am**

I’m pleased to drop information I’ve received that Deaf Crocodile is planning on releasing Who Wants to Kill Jessie? and How to Drown Dr. Mracek, the Lawyer. I myself find Jessie a nice little gem wrapped in a comic book style but Dr. Mracek is the one I want to spotlight (especially in light of the current Czech/Slovak List Project) in how it’s basically a Lubitsch comedy featuring soul snatchers immortals who keep their captured souls in fine china cups and is an absolute delight of a film that I’m so glad they’re releasing.

Posted: **Thu May 01, 2025 3:29 am**

TechnicolorAcid wrote: Thu May 01, 2025 3:10 am I’m pleased to drop information I’ve received that Deaf Crocodile is planning on releasing Who Wants to Kill Jessie? and How to Drown Dr. Mracek, the Lawyer. I myself find Jessie a nice little gem wrapped in a comic book style but Dr. Mracek is the one I want to spotlight (especially in light of the current Czech/Slovak List Project) in how it’s basically a Lubitsch comedy featuring soul snatchers immortals who keep their captured souls in fine china cups and is an absolute delight of a film that I’m so glad they’re releasing.

Thank you for sharing, TechnicolorAcid! This is very exciting news about How to Drown Dr. Mracek. I discovered it only recently and absolutely loved it.

Posted: **Thu May 01, 2025 6:57 am**

TechnicolorAcid wrote: Thu May 01, 2025 3:10 am I’m pleased to drop information I’ve received that Deaf Crocodile is planning on releasing Who Wants to Kill Jessie? and How to Drown Dr. Mracek, the Lawyer. I myself find Jessie a nice little gem wrapped in a comic book style but Dr. Mracek is the one I want to spotlight (especially in light of the current Czech/Slovak List Project) in how it’s basically a Lubitsch comedy featuring soul snatchers immortals who keep their captured souls in fine china cups and is an absolute delight of a film that I’m so glad they’re releasing.

Oh, that’s wonderful news! Both films could hardly be more perfect fits for the label.

Posted: **Mon May 05, 2025 1:02 pm**

This has just hit my email inbox:

THE TRAGEDY OF MAN (AZ EMBER TRAGÉDIÁJA), 2011, Mozinet, 160 min.

An incredible 23 years in the making, THE TRAGEDY OF MAN is the legendary Hungarian animator Marcell Jankovics’s (SON OF THE WHITE MARE) sprawling, kaleidoscopic masterwork: a seemingly-endless animated scroll of gorgon-like demons, cave paintings that spring to life, barbarian warriors, bejeweled pharaohs, knights and martyrs and prophets bleeding together -- one brutal age dissolving into another and another, all of human history passing like pages in a flipbook. Adapted from the dramatic poem by 19th century author Imre Madách that’s often compared to Goethe’s Faust and Milton’s Paradise Lost, THE TRAGEDY OF MAN is no children’s cartoon: it’s one of the most visually stunning and wildly ambitious animated epics ever made (and then some). Broken into 15 different episodes (the segments were produced one at a time by Jankovics as he cobbled together funding), each section has a different visual style, incorporating a mind-blowing tapestry of world art, cultures, symbols, and rituals. The sum total of Jankovics’s cosmic vision of human “progress” is utterly surreal, psychedelic, operatic and Wagnerian: a breathtaking vision of Hell on Earth, with brief glimpses of Grace and Love which may offer hope for the future.

Posted: **Mon May 05, 2025 8:09 pm**

MichaelB wrote: Mon May 05, 2025 1:02 pm This has just hit my email inbox:

THE TRAGEDY OF MAN (AZ EMBER TRAGÉDIÁJA), 2011, Mozinet, 160 min.

An incredible 23 years in the making, THE TRAGEDY OF MAN is the legendary Hungarian animator Marcell Jankovics’s (SON OF THE WHITE MARE) sprawling, kaleidoscopic masterwork: a seemingly-endless animated scroll of gorgon-like demons, cave paintings that spring to life, barbarian warriors, bejeweled pharaohs, knights and martyrs and prophets bleeding together -- one brutal age dissolving into another and another, all of human history passing like pages in a flipbook. Adapted from the dramatic poem by 19th century author Imre Madách that’s often compared to Goethe’s Faust and Milton’s Paradise Lost, THE TRAGEDY OF MAN is no children’s cartoon: it’s one of the most visually stunning and wildly ambitious animated epics ever made (and then some). Broken into 15 different episodes (the segments were produced one at a time by Jankovics as he cobbled together funding), each section has a different visual style, incorporating a mind-blowing tapestry of world art, cultures, symbols, and rituals. The sum total of Jankovics’s cosmic vision of human “progress” is utterly surreal, psychedelic, operatic and Wagnerian: a breathtaking vision of Hell on Earth, with brief glimpses of Grace and Love which may offer hope for the future.

A major acquisition. I bought the Hungarian DVD ages ago.

It’s incredible how his films didn’t get commercial releases in North America. Son of the White Mare played in Los Angeles during the Summer 1984 Olympics as part of a cultural exchange program that I think a number of nations sent films to, and it had a few one-offs in the years afterwards

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