Jan Svankmajer opens "Lunacy," his silly romp in the macabre, with a personal preamble that's more cop-out than disclaimer. With a frosty beard and genteel poise, the Czech filmmaker tells the camera that what follows is a work of horror, featuring "all of the degeneracy peculiar to that genre." It is not, he says, "a work of art," adding: "Art is dead." How convenient for Svankmajer, the famed animator known best for his striking stop-motion puppet adaptations of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Faust." He's let himself off the hook. Read the full review
In 19th-century France, a young man suffers nightmares in which he is dragged off to a madhouse. On the journey back from his mother's funeral he is invited by a Marquis to spend a night in his castle. The Marquis insists on helping him conquer his fears and takes his guest to a surrealistic lunatic asylum where the patients have complete freedom and the staff are locked up behind bars.
Director: Jan Svankmajer
Starring: Pavel Liska, Jan Triska, Anna Geislerová, Martin Huba, Jaroslav Dusek
Run time: 118 minutes
Release date: August 9, 2006
Language: Czech with English subtitles.
Rating: Not rated; includes violence, nudity, strong sexuality.
On the web
Official movie site
Austin American-Statesman: 2 of 5 stars
"Svankmajer compensates for a lack of thematic inspiration with his signature visual exuberance, which takes the form of frolicsome grotesqueries and high-volume atmospherics."
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