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The Winston-Salem Cinema Society
www.cinemasociety.org
Coming Attractions - Membership Information - Join Today - Contact Us
3 PM, May 19, 2002
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The Winston-Salem Cinema Society |
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Coming Attractions - Membership Information - Join Today - Contact Us |
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3 PM, May 19, 2002 |
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Little Otik (OTESÁNEK) Director: Jan Svankmajer (Czech Republic, 2001) 125 min.; Not Rated (adult themes, violence) A combination of real actors and stop-action animation, Jan Svankmajer's LITTLE OTIK is a handmade dream, cobbled together from dirt, wood and more imagination than most of us can muster in our most fevered states. Because this Czech master refuses to work in the scrubbed, antiseptic manner of most animators, this fable comes to life as hilarious and creepy. The story centers on a desperate, childless couple, Karel (Jan Hartl) and his anxious wife, Bozena (Veronika Zilkova). He's so overwhelmed by their infertility that he sees babies everywhere: as he waits for his wife at the doctor's office, he imagines that babies are being scooped out of a tank with a net like fresh fish, then wrapped in newsprint for a queue of happy customers - including himself.  Hartl's long, rubbery face complements Mr. Svankmajer's cartoonish vision of hell perfectly - the actor is like a lifesize realization of an R. Crumb cartoon; he's missing only huge beads of sweat popping off his forehead like exclamation points. The theme of infantilism is prevalent: everyone wants what he wants right away, which leads to doom, especially for Karel and Bozena. Folkloric ramifications also emerge when the story of Otik is found in a book of fairy tales. And LITTLE OTIK is a constant assault on the commodification of everything, including babies. The movie is awash in an audio stream of commercials, always selling something new to be ingested; Otik is the worst- case-scenario version of the media- created consumer. Source:(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/19/movies/19OTIK.html) Reviews and Links: Elvis Mitchell, New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/19/movies/19OTIK.html Kevin Thomas, LA Times http://www.calendarlive.com/top/ 1,1419,L-LATimes-Movies-X!ArticleDetail-51514,00.html Political Film Society http://www.oocities.org/~polfilms/otik.html Official site: http://www.illumin.co.uk/svank/films/otesanek/otesanek.html |
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The Winston-Salem Cinema Society, Inc. | P.O. Box 15340 | Winston-Salem, NC | 27113-0340 | (336) 722-8269 A Non-Profit Organization
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