Inspired by the writings of the Marquis de Sade and Edgar Allan Poe, Svankmajer’s fifth feature is as uncompromising and provocative as ever. A live action film with suitably twisted animated interludes, lunacy follows a timid youth befriended by a diabolical and deranged Marquis who literally leads him astray. This skilful blend of horror movie and philosophical allegory is conceptually rigorous and politically subversive.
Courtesy of BFI Touring.