Die Wohnung

There's probably some greater meaning to this short film from Jan Svankmajer, but I'm not even going to bother with it. All that you need to know is that 'Byt / The Flat (1968)' involves a man trapped in an apartment that more closely resembles a carnival house-of-horrors, and where the laws of physics and logic don't hold much sway. From this simple premise, the Czech Republic's master animator reaches into the bizarre depths of his mind to construct a version reality that doesn't quite make sense; it's a surreal nightmare where nothing operates as it should, everything goes wrong, and it seems that the frustration will never end. Water spews forth from a wood-fire stove; a single swinging lightbulb bashes a hole in the brick wall; a hearty meal goes uneaten when the utensils constantly play up; a water tap disgorges a solid rock. This is one of Svankmajer's few ventures into live-action film-making, though the technique of stop-motion – utilised so effectively in films such as 'Dimensions of Dialogue (1982)' – forms the backbone of his creepy visual effects.

It may all mean something, but I'm more interested in the mood that Svankmajer is able to create through his use of visuals, particularly the stop-motion, which leaves the viewer bewildered and disorientated. The images are accompanied by an original soundtrack by Zdenek Liska, but it's often too dramatic and overwhelming to suit the film; something more restrained and mysterious would, I think, have been more appropriate to the tone for which Svankmajer was aiming. Ivan Kraus portrays the flat's unfortunate victim, and he responds to each new obstacle with a stunned deadpan frown that only occasionally betrays the enormous frustration and desperation that he is experiencing. The short film ends with the man, having bizarrely just encountered a visitor wielding an axe and a chicken, tearing down a wooden door to reveal a wall of signed names, with a pencil dangling alongside. Some have interpreted this as referencing the secret police interrogations that took place in Czechoslovakia when the Soviets invaded in 1968. It's a compelling theory, I'll admit, but I enjoyed 'Byt' mainly for its visuals.

There's something about art and artists. Sometimes the effect of the art isn't a conversation between the viewer and the artist, instead between the artist and the viewer. And often neither party knows it.

Its particularly apparent when the artist is damaged in some way and he or she create art that conveys that damage. This is common, I think because when there is a human trying to reach us, we allow an inadequate vehicle. I think the effect is so common and so well understood that weak artists, artists who cannot create powerful work, feign this dynamic.

Here we have an odd little student film, almost a student film. It conveys a world that doesn't work -- not comically but frustratingly as if it were deliberately teasing us. Whatever is behind this flat is evil.

Watch closely and you will see that the film is rather incompetent. But we don't notice, because as with Tim Burton we see the strange dude who made it. And we imagine what type of man he would have to be, and under what conditions he lives.

(I could have chosen a dozen filmmakers as examples and you would have equally known what I meant.) Either way, this is uninteresting.

Contrast this to "The Cube" of about the same time, the one by Jim Henson, also a puppeteer making the bridge to film-making. It is based on much the same notions. Yet Henson's little project is a marvel of competence, several competences.

What we have here instead is just a glass through which we see a sad man.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

.. and Beckett's and Sartre's too.

One of the most wildly inventive short films ever made comes from Czech master surrealist Jan Svankmajer.

Employing stop-motion, live-action and a bottomless pit of absurd genius, The Flat is a film that keeps on giving. Just when you think it can't get any better (or worse if you're the protagonist), it does just that.

The score is beautiful yet appropriately unsettling and gets right under your skin.

A rare film that makes you grin and squirm at the same time.

this was my first contact with Svankmajer. And what a strong impression i got! He is 'labeled' with the surrealist movement, and is frequently attached to the other surrealist names in cinema. In this film alone, i don't check any of what might be called surrealism, except for some aesthetic choices, and some physics of the world within i will explain. That is because surrealism had always to do with seeking to deliver through art states of consciousness which are beyond self-awareness. Dreams, for instance. Things which we can't control, which are not material, we can't touch, which happen in undefined time (in shape and duration). None of that is here. This has, of course, a veiled political speech between the lines. We have a character which is told where to go, he follows arrows which lead to wherever someone wants. He is given everything, but he can't taste anything. He is taken to doors, but he is not allowed to open them. He is given food, but than he has a dog to eat it. This takes place entirely inside an apartment. Of course this is (or could be) the direct metaphor to the Soviet Union, the iron curtain, all those elements which motivated many filmmakers and artists to create art that could express desperation and in satisfaction without alerting censors. That's not surrealist (believing now in some of the ideologies used than might be surrealistic, this is not). But this is, instead, a fantastic experiment. I don't know much about Czech animation, or Czech cinema, but i'm willing to explore it. I saw a short, a while ago, 'Prílepek', it was a very good experience from someone who learned a lot from this Czech reference. So i'm sensing a continuity that i care about exploring, so i'll be looking for more of these works.

What we have here (and that is more close we can get to the surrealism mood here) is a world which defines its own rules. I mean physical rules. It's a world were the material behaviour of materials and objects is not the same as in our real world. It is possible for a man to place an arm across a wall, or a wood bed to completely disintegrate as if it was eaten up. That is what takes us to another dimension, and the frantic pace and editing also. The stop-motion is remarkable, and the technical level really very high here.

My opinion: 4/5 don't miss it.

Great movie about madness and loneliness. I have seen only one Svankmajer film before this, it was "Down in the Cellar". It had some similar elements. This is much older. It reminded me of Beckett's "Film" and Polanski's "Tenant", from which the latter is in my opinion one of the greatest movies ever made. I don't know has Polanski got some inspiration from this? Anyway, comparing is stupid because these are all totally separate artistic achievements and all are great in themselves.

This movie is really energic and full of ideas. It's bravely simple. This movie is really crazy, the guy is really hallucinating. You can't call this neurotic or paranoid anymore, this is truly psychotic. But it's funny, actually it's a comedy! I don't know where Svankmajer has got these ideas. But I know that if you would show this film in the army draft, you wouldn't have to go.