Dimensions of Dialogue

The grotesque charm of this trio of short films is hard to beat. They each work separately but gain a lot from being seen together.

They convey in a language of images profound truths in a lively, eerie, unpretentious way. There is always something neat to look at and went away from this just feeling full, the way you do after a good meal, not needing anymore.

We should all know by now that Czech animator Jan Svankmajer is the master of the weird (sorry, Terry Gilliam, but this guy beat you to the punch). With "Moznosti dialogu", he goes all out as food and utensils eat each other, clay figures have a most unusual experience kissing each other...more tricks follow.

What's the point of all these images? Who knows. One could try to analyze it - and probably get a headache from doing so - but I'd say that the real point is to get enthralled. Either way, this short flick truly has Svankmajer written all over it. You could be deaf and the whole thing would still be fascinating. So definitely "Czech" it out.

"Moznosti dialogu" (1982) aka "Dimensions of Dialogue" (or it could be translated as "Possibilities of Dialogue" is one of my very favorite Svankmajer's short films. It consists of three parts, "Eternal Dialog", "Passionate Dialog", and "Exhausting Dialog". When I watched it, I was thinking about Tennessee Williams' words, "All of us are locked in our loneliness like in the cage". Complete loneliness, inability to communicate, impossibility of dialog and understanding - this is quite a dark opinion of the humanity but how masterfully and wickedly funny it was presented. How incredibly unique and marvelous Svankmajer's vision is. Among many spectacular images, the clay lovemaking scene in the "Passionate Dialog" was perhaps one of the most sensual I've ever seen in the movies. As any genuine work of Art, Svankmajer's little gem fascinates a viewer on many levels. You can try to explain the images and their deep meaning or you can simply sit back and let the fantasy, Art and imagination take you to the amazing world which you will never be able to forget

Jan Svankmager's "Dimensions of Dialogue" is a collection of short films made up of stop-motion photography, live action, and animation. In the first act, Exhaustive Discussion, two heads made of all sorts of food and utensils are reduced to chunks and pieces through unique stop-motion animation. The heads devour and regurgitate each other into new forms over and over in a apologue of Evolution until we have clay heads continuously devouring and regurgitating. In the second act, Passionate Discourse, the two heads have become male and female, fall in love, and have sensual sex where they blend together. When they revert back to man and women there exists a needy lump of clay in between them, seemingly their child. Neither wants to care for the child and they begin to throw the lump back and forth at one another. The fight continues to escalate until they have virtually destroy one another. In the final act, Factual Conversation, two new heads appear-those of middle-aged men-and they begin spitting out and sucking back into their mouths various objects, interacting with one another through physical use of their tongues to manipulate the various objects for their dual benefit. Their exchanges become increasingly irrational, finally ending in destruction. Through use of human forms which are dismantled, scattered, merged and then weirdly constructed, "Dimensions of Dialogue" serves as a visually entertaining pessimistic study about the types of dialogue people have with one another, and the way that these dialogues can go horribly wrong. Some feel that it is Svankmajer's greatest film, and one of the most astounding animated shorts ever made. Whether that's true or not, his films have had a huge influence on modern avant-garde and stop-motion animators, as well as influencing the likes of Tim Burton and the Brothers Quay, and it is a film well worth watching.

These short films were very visually appealing, as you watch pieces of food and clay be formed to the audiences own interpretation. It must of taken days to create a film purely made up of objects, which in every detail you can see in it's impressive flow to the animation of the film. I really enjoyed the interaction between the two clay humans and the message they were trying to make through the interaction of both because it can be taken in many different ways, which is the purpose of art; to make one think outside of the box. Jan Svankmajer's "Dimensions of Dialogue" was created in 1982, and was composed of three short films in which were purely animation. I liked how different it was to many other films in the 1980s and it really set itself apart from many of the other films out there at that moment in time.