I did not know going into Little Otik that it was based on a real fairy tale. As it went along it became more than evident that it was, but the director, Jan Svankmajer, the inspired nut of eastern European animation, worked in the 'fairy tale' aspect in a truly unconventional manner. For a while, for the unsuspecting viewer, it seems like an original story, if one that has some obvious and not so obvious comparisons (one of them for me was the obscure Lynch short The Grandmother, but Eraserhead also seems a tad comparable, and then a bit of A.I. thrown in- these are all shallow observations).
There's a husband and wife who want kids- the woman does, anyway- and he feels bad that they can't procreate. The man sees a little girl that lives in the same apartment building with a fake baby doll. He gets an idea - he goes to a tree stump, pulls it out, carves it, and presents it to his wife (as a joke) as a baby looking like the doll with full anatomical correctness. She takes it completely seriously to heart, like a totally insane person, and the husband goes along with this charade. It seems like it should be unbelievable story-wise, but it works a lot better than it would because of the humor involved, some of it just weird (the pillows the "mother" uses to mark by each month), and some just really, truly funny (some of the performances, all on the same wavelength Svankmajer wants, mostly by the crazy, child-loving mother).
It's when the tree stump is "born"- as if the real baby of the couple has been born, but at the same time is never seen- that things turn into the form of a horror movie and a fairy tale. One might be tempted to say it's like a Czech nightmare trip of Little Shop of Horrors, which may be somewhat accurate for the simple physical act of eating (tree stump's gotta eat, especially human meat). However, the style that one who's seem Svankmajer's work, plus the skillful work of the stop motion animation that springs some surprises even AFTER it starts to spring its contortions and wonderful movements (i.e. the eyeball looking out of the mouth), is in peak form. The story is not as cluttered as Faust, there's lots of awkward domestic humor, and some that are like bizarre running gags (the old pedophile, the obsession with disgusting looking soup in full close-ups, the gardening hoes, the animated storybook, etc).
At the same time as Svankmajer has all this going on, there is an actually interesting performance from the little girl who lives with her parents but is lonely and looks upon Otik as a threat that needs to be protected from the bloody climax that's at the critter's fate. And, in-between the nightmarish quality of the subject matter, Svankmajer has an intention, as del-Toro had with Pan's Labyrinth, to make a contemporary mix of fairy tale and adult drama with a pure sense of the horrors capable in family. It's rough-edged and deranged, it's full of unique camera and editing tricks that stay consistent, it delivers more shocks with food (as mentioned) than I've ever seen, and there's even a level of tragedy reached through the urban horror of the story. Only the very end, which feels like it kind of cuts off things, is a little disappointing, but this can be forgiven for the strength of the vision at hand. Anyone wanting a risk with their film-viewing, seek this out ASAP.
There's a husband and wife who want kids- the woman does, anyway- and he feels bad that they can't procreate. The man sees a little girl that lives in the same apartment building with a fake baby doll. He gets an idea - he goes to a tree stump, pulls it out, carves it, and presents it to his wife (as a joke) as a baby looking like the doll with full anatomical correctness. She takes it completely seriously to heart, like a totally insane person, and the husband goes along with this charade. It seems like it should be unbelievable story-wise, but it works a lot better than it would because of the humor involved, some of it just weird (the pillows the "mother" uses to mark by each month), and some just really, truly funny (some of the performances, all on the same wavelength Svankmajer wants, mostly by the crazy, child-loving mother).
It's when the tree stump is "born"- as if the real baby of the couple has been born, but at the same time is never seen- that things turn into the form of a horror movie and a fairy tale. One might be tempted to say it's like a Czech nightmare trip of Little Shop of Horrors, which may be somewhat accurate for the simple physical act of eating (tree stump's gotta eat, especially human meat). However, the style that one who's seem Svankmajer's work, plus the skillful work of the stop motion animation that springs some surprises even AFTER it starts to spring its contortions and wonderful movements (i.e. the eyeball looking out of the mouth), is in peak form. The story is not as cluttered as Faust, there's lots of awkward domestic humor, and some that are like bizarre running gags (the old pedophile, the obsession with disgusting looking soup in full close-ups, the gardening hoes, the animated storybook, etc).
At the same time as Svankmajer has all this going on, there is an actually interesting performance from the little girl who lives with her parents but is lonely and looks upon Otik as a threat that needs to be protected from the bloody climax that's at the critter's fate. And, in-between the nightmarish quality of the subject matter, Svankmajer has an intention, as del-Toro had with Pan's Labyrinth, to make a contemporary mix of fairy tale and adult drama with a pure sense of the horrors capable in family. It's rough-edged and deranged, it's full of unique camera and editing tricks that stay consistent, it delivers more shocks with food (as mentioned) than I've ever seen, and there's even a level of tragedy reached through the urban horror of the story. Only the very end, which feels like it kind of cuts off things, is a little disappointing, but this can be forgiven for the strength of the vision at hand. Anyone wanting a risk with their film-viewing, seek this out ASAP.