ANIMATION REVIEW : ‘Surreal’ Looks at Quirky Talent

“Scenes From the Surreal,” a program of international animated shorts (at the Nuart, today only) focuses on the recent work of the Czech artist, Jan Svankmajer, one of the most original and quirky talents in contemporary animation.

Svankmajer has frequently stated his fascination with dreams and the weird art of the Mannerist school. His strongest films, which reflect those interests, depict a haunting world of worn objects and bizarre figures that suggest a half-remembered dream.

In “Darkness Light Darkness” (1990), a pair of delicate clay hands that inhabit a small room construct a human figure out of miscellaneous body parts. The arresting final image of the figure trapped in the tiny room, like Alice in White Rabbit’s house, can be interpreted on a number of levels.

In “Virile Games” (1990), Svankmajer mixes live action, cut-outs, video, pixilation and clay animation to spoof the warlike elements of a professional soccer match. But, the players in this game score points by mutilating each other, an effect achieved by smashing disturbingly life-like clay figures. (Svankmajer’s work has never appealed to the squeamish.)

“Jan Svankmajer: Animator of Prague,” a rather stilted BBC mini-documentary, tells the viewer little about the artist’s career and influence, but it helps explain his latest film, “Death of Stalinism in Prague” (1990), by identifying some of the Czech politicians it depicts. Although some of the visuals are striking, the unfamiliarity of the political figures robs the film of much of its resonance.

Included in the program are the previously reviewed “Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies” by the Brothers Quay and “The Way Things Go” by Peter Fischli and David Weiss, which was unavailable for preview.