The Cinema of Jan Å vankmajer: Dark Alchemy. Second edition. Directors' Cuts by Peter Hames (review)

Abstract

734 SEER, 88, 4, OCTOBER 2OIO schemesbecometracings ofan unprecedented potentiality', and goes on to assertthat,exceptforSacrifice (1986),'each ofhisfilms is profoundly "Soviet" in itspointof departure - in its theme,storyand characters. However, theSovietbackground ofhisfilms is onlytheframework forthemoreuniversal projectof exploring new modes of attending to theworld'(p. 49). Bird identifies here a fundamental pointabout Tarkovskii as an artist, namely thathisprojectwas an aesthetic one, an ongoingexperimentation withthe instruments ofcinemato 'imprint and record'reality, through thecreation ofhisinimitable 'cinematic texture' (p. 9). The different stories ofthefilms, and indeedofhistheatre productions and variousunrealized projects are on one leveljust the raw materialforthisattemptto createa reality which extends farbeyondthephotographic in itsevocationofthatelusivesenseof 'contingency and potentiality' (p. 9). Chapterson sound and atmosphere in the filmsprovidean interesting commentary on Tarkovskii's methodforachieving thiskindofrich,multiple realityon screen.Bird arguesthat,as withhis use of colour,'over time Tarkovsky increasingly employedsoundto punctuate and inflect theimages in unexpected, complexways' (p. 156).In Tarkovskii's practice - even in themakingof his finalfilmSacrifice in Sweden- of dubbingin all sound afterfilming, Bird sees a 'consciouspoeticsof desynchronization' at work rather thana Soviethabit.In releasing theimagefromitsusualfixedaural associations, he enablesitto becomemoreuniversal, moremultifaceted and moresuggestive of'thatwhichliesoff-screen and beyondthegaze' (p. 209). Birdcomesdownfirmly on thesideofthosewhoseeTarkovskii as a 'great practioner', rather thana 'greatthinker'. In thisnewbook,withitsemphasis on thedetailofTarkovskii's method,he presents a convincing case forthis view. UCL SSEES Chiara Mayer-Riegkh Hames,Peter(ed.). TheCinema of JanSvankmqjer: DarkAlchemy. Secondedition. Directors'Cuts. Wallflower Press,London and New York,2008. vii + 247 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Filmography. Bibliography. Index. £16.99 (paperback). Peter Hames's The Cinema ofJan Svankmqjer is the second editionof his Dark Alchemy: TheFilms of JanSvankmqjer published byFlicksBooksin 1995,and thesecondoftwovolumeseditedbyHames on Czech cinematobe reprinted byWallflower Press.The first, TheCzechoslovak NewWave (Berkeley, CA, 1985) appearedin 2005.The factthatWallflower has reprinted theseworks testifies to Hames's highstanding as a specialist in Czechoslovak/ Czech and Slovak cinema.He has been themain authority on thistopicin theWestforthe lasttwenty years,and is one ofthemostrespected specialists in theCzech Republicand Slovakia.He has a vastknowledge and inexhaustible curiosity aboutold and newCzech and Slovakfilms, and hiswriting style, whilst free reviews 735 ofjargon,revealssignificant theoretical andhistorical competence. As a result, practically anyonewhobeginsanyresearch intoCzechoslovak - and Czech and Slovak- cinemahas to start withHames'swork.Atthesametime,this 'recycling' of Hames's workindicatesthe generallack of sourceson this. Despite the factthat,in its heydayduringthe 1960s,filmsmade in the BarrandovstudiomarkedthehighpointofEuropeancinema'shistory, and thatevennowCzech and Slovakcinemaisthriving, thisisnotreflected inthe quantity ofworkpublished in thisarea. The book consistsof fivemain chapterswhich discusskey motifsin Svankmajer's work;two of themwritten by Hames himself, as well as an extended interview withthedirector conducted byHames,as wellas various 'additions'. Together, theyfulfil a numberoffunctions. First, theylocatehis oeuvre in a numberof contexts, ofwhichthemostimportant is Surrealism. Svankmajer was a memberoftheCzech Surrealist Groupand drewheavily on a specifically Czech versionofthisparadigmwhilst, inevitably, entering into dialoguewithotherversionsof Surrealism.The Surrealiststrandis announcedbytheverytitles ofthechapters, suchas Michael O'Pray's 'Jan Svankmajer: A ManneristSurrealist' and Frantisek Dryje's 'The Force of Imagination', and is thefocusoftwochapters, written respectively byRoger Cardinaland PeterHames, on objectsand puppetsin Svankmajer's films. The questionof Svankmajer'sversionof Surrealismis also raised in an interview in whichthedirector describes hisworkas prompted byhisdesire to 'rendertheaudience'sutilitarian habitsunstable'.Perhapssurprisingly to someviewers, he also admitsthat'thereis moreoftheconceptof"ideology" in themthan"convulsive beauty'"(p. 118). The secondpurpose ofthebookistoaccountfor thechanges inSvankmajer's longcinematic career.Bornin 1934,Svankmajer was at collegebetween1950 and 1958,and began makingfilms in 1964.His latestfilmwas producedin 2005. Hence hisartistic biography spansalmostall theimportant moments in Czechoslovakia's post-war history: fromStalinism, through therebellious 1960s, thecolourless 'normalization', thetransition todemocracy and,eventually ,thebreak-upof Czechoslovakiaitself. However,althoughthe authors point to the stylistic and thematicchanges in Svankmajer'scinema,for examplethechanging roleofpuppetsand peopleinhisfilms, thereadergets theimpression thatforthem, continuity ismoreimportant thandiscontinuity, or eventhattheysimply regardhiscinemaas consistently, evenobsessively, focusing on a smallnumberof motifs, such as the impossibility of human communication. Thirdly, thecollection attempts to explaintheSvankmajer phenomenon, namelywhatmakeshim such an important figure in Czech/Czechoslovak and Europeancinema.Followingtheend oftheCzechoslovakNew Wave, he hasbeentheonlydirector whoseworkhasattracted significant recognition intheWest.Certainly, themainreasonsforthisarehistalent and originality. Butnotevery brilliant film-maker becomesa well-known film-maker. Another reasonis thathe drawsheavily on thepearlsofEuropeanliterature, suchas Alice in Wonderland, and reworks Europeanmyths, suchas thoseofFaustand 736 SEER, 88, 4, OCTOBER 2OIO Don Juan. Despite its 'Czechness',Svankmajer's cinemathusappeals to a universal sensibility. At thesame time,Hames admitsthatSvankmajer was very lucky tobe discovered and promoted bya groupofdynamic enthusiasts, including fellowanimators theQuay Brothers...