Krysar

I watched Krysar at about three in the morning in my bedroom and it absolutely terrified me. It takes major liberties with the original story, though that's all to the good. Hamelin is this ultra weird medieval labyrinth of garrets, spires, cavernous buildings, cellars and gargoyles. The people that live in it are harsh and selfish, cheat each other and are fixated on gluttony, alcohol, and prostitution. When they speak they speak in squawking untranslatable gibberish, so it's a bit like a silent movie but with a bit more menace from the onomatopoeia. The vast majority of the film shoots wooden puppets and automata, though the rats are real live rats, which is scary as hell. Obviously the townsfolk mess with the Pied Piper, and that was a bad idea.

Krysar scared the hell out of me because some of the townsfolk just felt so recognisable. In the day before I watched this I went past a posh house and there were a load of large pillows outside advertised as being free, and I took one home with me feeling very satisfied because it was a fine pillow. But there's this character in the movie who takes a lot of time with fabrics and pillows making himself luxuriously comfortable, and I sure felt bad watching him led on a large white pillow, whilst I was also in the same position on mine, high up in my pit in a secure apartment block! I have to admit that I watched this movie in 5 minute segments with little breaks to absorb the shock, it was that scary. Despite its complete lack of contemporaneity in aesthetic, it felt very much in soul like a criticism of the modern capitalist world with all its locks and keys securing the wealth of the few.

This film is pure unadulterated genius and I found it devastating to watch.

Krysar (The Pied Piper) is a 55-minute film, almost all of it stop-motion animation. That's a total of 3,300 seconds, or 79,200 frames of film, each one a little different than the one before to give the illusion of motion. I've no idea how many person-hours of work went into this little gem, but it shows. The story line follows the fairy tale pretty much, except for the denouement. The sets look like they were made by the folks who did The Cabinet of Caligari and the people puppets have rather angular faces. A rather well-done film, although I found myself wondering if Czechoslovakia had a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - some of the rats in the moat didn't look too happy.

KRYSAR is a wonderfully dark, adult version of THE PIED PIPER, brought to life through stark, expressionistic, stop-motion animation.

In keeping with the original tale, the gluttonous, greed-driven townsfolk have a bit of a rat problem. These rodents are presented as dog-sized beasts, scurrying about, stealing anything they can snatch.

Director Jiri Barta has created a macabre, surreal world that is striking and bleak. Its jagged structures are gothic (check out those gargoyles!) and labyrinthine, providing plenty of places for the rats to hide. The people are very angular, somewhat robotic forms, that range from comical to frightening. The rats are the true stars, and are given ample opportunity to show what they can do to cause mayhem. It's obvious that a lot of time and effort went into this masterpiece!

The titular Piper is a mysterious, cloaked figure who arrives like a great wizard or an avenging specter.

Special mention must be made of the bizarre musical soundtrack, especially toward the end. As odd as it is, it fits the action perfectly.

This works because it's a fantasy that plays like a horror film. Highly recommended...

As if it's brief running time or its oddly unique visual design weren't enough for this version of THE PIED PIPER not to be seen widely (especially by children - the nominal audience for "fairy tales"), KRYSAR has some ghoulishly Brothers Grimm imagery to boot. Too bad. This is an excellent extended short subject directed by Jirí Barta who's style may remind one of Jan Svankmajer or the Brothers Quay, without appearing derivative at all. KRYSAR follows the Pied Piper legend fairly faithfully - though with some notable Grand Guignol twists and horrific visions - until its final, unexpected, last act which I won't spoil. It's this final "topper" which separates this version from the pack - In addition to its visuals. The Visuals! Amazing and detailed wood-cut puppets that have a fluidity of motion that, at times, can be mesmerizing. The only flaw in the Visuals, is the use of paint accrection landscape paintings. Not that the "moving, flowing" artwork isn't well-rendered, they just don't mesh with the stop-motion animation - or the live rats!

Jiri Barta's 1986 Pied Piper is a quintessentially dyspeptic, adult piece of Eastern Euro animation whose take on the classic morality fable is even more misanthropic than Jacques Demy's version. Here, a medieval town of avaricious, gluttonous bourgeoise is overrun by rats (the only live-action element, adding an extra grotesque dimension). Instead of a mischevious minstrel, the Piper who rids them of those pesky vermin is more like a cruel avenging angel-when betrayed, his bitterly ironic redress departs considerably from the tale's usual ending. Complete with stop-motion puppet rape and murder, these stunningly visualized 55 minutes are not quite apt for children.