Jan the Man

Just like Alice I am about to embark upon a topsy-turvy journey of wonderment and curiosity, with a dash of insanity thrown into the mix. To start I am going to revisit a film I first saw several years ago by a Czech director called Jan Svankmajer, who is renowned for his surreal animations. This film called “Alice” (1988) is based on Lewis Carrolls book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (1865) and combines Stop-motion animation with live action. Whilst not crossing the line into horror, the visuals often appear grotesque and disturbing, making it a very strange cinematic experience. The boundaries are often blurred between the real and the imaginary as inanimate household objects come to life and behave in ways you wouldn’t expect. The strong recurrence of skulls and scissors coupled with the eerie narration of the story by Alice herself makes this a risky choice for my bed time viewing, as my dreams will no doubt be occupied by Czechoslovakian surrealist style nightmares.