This film is currently unavailable
Old Czech Legends
The world of Czech myths and legends inhabited by puppets is magically brought to life by master animator, Jiří Trnka, in this stunning stop-motion spectacle of folklore.
Director: Jirí Trnka
Overview
Based on Alois Jirásek’s collection of legends this stop-motion feature powered by Trnka’s poetic imagination tells the story of the mythological foundation of the Czech nation. From the stories of Forefather Czech, Princess Libuše and Přemysl The Ploughman, the founders of the Premyslid dynasty, and a womens’ revolt, to a king obsessed with gold and a fierce battle between neighbouring clans, it portrays early Bohemia as the promised land for the Czech people full of magical creatures and ferocious beasts.
Using a cast of ‘thousands’, all hand-carved wooden puppets, and transforming the heroes of national myth and legend into live characters, Trnka conveys the drama and emotions through his figures’ body language, camera angles and evocative lighting, which take on epic proportions when accompanied by Václav Trojan’s orchestral score. A stunning stop-motion spectacle of folklore culminating in a climactic battle against attacking wolves and birds worthy of Kurosawa. Part of the 27th Made in Prague Festival, 3 November – 10 December 2023, organised by the Czech Centre London.
Related
Watership Down Watership Down
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 92 mins Director: Martin Rosen
An apocalyptic vision pushes a group of rabbits to abandon their warren in search of a new home, in this landmark British animation.
Requiem for a Village Requiem for a Village
Documentary 1975 68 mins Director: David Gladwell
The idyllic, pastoral past of a Suffolk village is reborn through memory in this extraordinary, little-known film from director David Gladwell.
Un Chien Andalou Un Chien Andalou
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1928 16 mins Silent Director: Luis Buñuel
A scabrous study of desire, the subconscious and anti-clericalism - Buñuel and Dalí’s provocative first film is a classic of Surrealist cinema.
Eden and After Eden and After
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1969 98 mins Director: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet’s sensual fantasy follows a group of students who enter a bizarre sado-masochistic realm after taking a mysterious drug.
Gallivant Gallivant
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1997 100 mins Director: Andrew Kötting
Andrew Kötting takes a terrific, twisting coastal tour of the UK with his family.
Fata Morgana Fata Morgana
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1971 76 mins Director: Werner Herzog
Herzog’s intense, dreamlike mediation on desert life as if seen by an alien.
Consequences Consequences
Drama 2018 95 mins Director: Darko Štante
A teenage tearaway is forced to face up to his actions and confront his burgeoning sexuality, in this provocative Slovenian coming-of-age tale.
God's Creatures God's Creatures
Drama 2022 100 mins Director: Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer
Paul Mescal and Emily Watson star in this gripping Irish psychological drama that asks how far you might go to protect someone you love.
Blackmail Blackmail
Police drama 1929 82 mins Silent Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock's first sound film sees a young woman blackmailed for a murder she was forced to commit.
Last Summer Last Summer
Drama 2023 104 mins Director: Catherine Breillat
French cinema’s great provocateur Catherine Breillat returns with a sharp and cruel tale of seduction and manipulation in a bourgeois household.
Eat the Night Eat the Night
Thriller 2024 107 mins Director: Caroline Poggi and Johnathan Vinel
Siblings find passion and peril online and in the real world, in this visually electric French drama.
Bound Bound
Gangster 1996 109 mins Director: Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski
A seductive neo-noir and cult classic centring on lesbian desire in dangerous circumstances.
High Life High Life
Science Fiction 2019 113 mins Director: Claire Denis
The messiness of sex, the mysteries of birth and the moving spectacle of devoted parenting in the face of impending oblivion create a potent atmosphere in Claire Denis’ English-language debut.
Pornomelancholia Pornomelancholia
Drama 2022 94 mins Director: Manuel Abramovich
Soulful docufiction featuring real-life porn actor Lalo Santos.
God's Own Country God's Own Country
Drama 2017 105 mins Director: Francis Lee
A troubled young sheep farmer falls for a hired hand in this stunning debut from Francis Lee.
Amores perros Amores perros
Drama 2000 148 mins Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu's (Birdman, The Revenant) gripping debut feature is a savagely brilliant triptych around the theme of animalistic desires.