I never thought that a movie would ever turn me off of food as a concept. Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972) came close, but the scenes involving food were mercifully few. Jan Švankmajer's Little Otik, on the other hand, assaults the audience with almost nonstop scenes of disgusting food being eaten, chewed, slurped, and cooked. One scene where a young girl bends over her plate and sucks the yolk from her egg almost made me physically nauseous. But it's appropriate, I suppose. After all, this is a movie about consumption. More specifically, an infant made of wood that can't stop eating. I suppose that the film could be interpreted as a metaphor for the anxieties and stresses of parenthood. But I think Švankmajer was more concerned with the motif of eating and consumption. Švankmajer's use of stop-motion animation was down-played in this film, giving me a chance to evaluate his visual language with greater scrutiny. His use of quick, extreme close-ups and sudden camera movements seem to emulate a child's enthusiasm for a new toy or curio. How appropriate, considering the source material.
8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment