Czech New Wave – “Alice” by Jan Svankmajer

Czech New Wave was a film movement that started in 1963 by students from Prague Film School. It is important to understand historical and political background of this movement. Before the Nazi occupation (1939-1945) film industry in Czechoslovakia was very strong and had an international recognition but that changed during the war due to bans and censorship. All the artistic movements had to move underground. Similar situation had place after Soviets liberated the country and introduced Soviet rule. The only art that was allowed had to glorify communism, artistic output was heavily censored. Czech New Wave formed as a response to political and historical reality of Czechoslovakia.

Cinema in Czechoslovakia was influenced by artistic movements from outside the film. First of them is the Devestil which was interested in proletarian art and domestic, everyday things. This group was trying to find a new ways of looking at the world, and was rejecting the old. They were influenced by politics at that time and what was thought as a “positive influence of communism”. The second artistic movement is called Poetism. It main thought was that the higher expression of modern art was to be found in functional products. This group believed that the art in the future would be both logical and bizarre. They also stated, in kind of biblical form, that people should think logically for six days but on the seventh day they should be free from the reason. The third movement that was important is The Prague’s Realists.

  fot. Jaroslav Rossler, member of the Devetsil.

Because of the censorship filmmakers had to find different ways to show their message. Their movies use a lot of metaphors and symbolism. Their atmosphere is very surreal. Those filmmakers reject formal conventions to be able to say what they want to say. Many of them were banned by authorities. One of them was Jan Svankmajer who was very interested in animation.  His work was very dark and surreal. In 1972 made a film Leonardo’s Diaries about unauthorised life in Czech, which in result got him banned from filmmaking for seven years. After those seven years he could only make literature adaptations. One of them is Alice, an adaptation of Louis Carroll Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.  It is completely different from the 1951 Disney version, the world created by Svankmajer is not magical, it is disturbing. The director decided to use puppetry and stop-motion to show his vision of this surreal world. Alice is grotesque, oneiric and full of absurd. Even though it is an adaptation of a children’s book, it may not be a film for young people. Svankmajer’s vision is dark and threatening. It is hard to describe it as a part of one genre, it has traits of an adventure, fantasy and horror film. Alice is following the white rabbit through the Wonderland where a lot of things impossible to happen in real life take place, like shrinking  because of magical potion,  and she is surrounded by creepy puppets, also some of them try to kill her.  Svankmajer’s film is very unique and worth watching, even though it may make you feel uncomfortable sometimes, as you are watching a kid’s nightmare.

Top row – Alice in Wonderland Disney 1951, Bottom row – Alice Jan Svankmajer