Le puits, le pendule et l'espoir

An imprisoned man finally escapes from an underground torture chamber. A relentlessly grim and oppressive rendition – comparable, in fact, to Alexandre Astruc's definitive TV version from 1964 – but the source material's despairing prose is sorely missed throughout. Famed Czech animator Svankmajer would later lend his uniquely surreal hand to such literary classics as "Alice In Wonderland" and "Faust" but this initial stab – his second from Poe material – is decidedly less appealing despite its very brief running time. Although the original source material was a short story itself, it has often been opened up for its cinematic adaptations which range from the popular Roger Corman/Vincent Price classic from 1961 to the little-seen but not ineffective Stuart Gordon/Oliver Reed version from 1990.

It's one of Jan Svankmajer's least comprehensible short films, and I think that also makes it one of his best. The vibes are so bad throughout, making this often feel like a nightmare put to film. And sure, you can say that about many of his short films, but you can really say it about this one.

It's easy to talk about the visuals in just about any given Svankmajer film, but here I'm realising that the audio is just as distinct. I don't know what he does to have all his short films sound this particular way, but it's just hit me here, more than any other short film of his.

The Pit, the Pendulum, and Hope unnerved me in just about the best way possible. What a trip.

This little film is mesmerizing. It is a stark recreation of Poes' Pit and the Pendulum. A man, whose face we never see, has been sentenced to death by some sort of druids or the inquisition. We follow him as he tries to save himself, using every means he has at his disposal. It is wildly surrealistic and very intense.

In one of two adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories - the other was an adaptation of "The Fall of the House of Usher" - Jan Svankmajer puts his own spin on things. This adaptation of "The Pit and the Pendulum" is nothing like the campy Vincent Price version. "Kyvadlo, jama a nadeje" has a really horrific feel. Aside from the fact that we see the pendulum from the protagonist's POV, we also see the gears running it; sort of like seeing the man behind the curtain in that respect. But even after the pendulum, there's still more for him to experience.

I agree with a previous reviewer who compared this movie to "2001: A Space Odyssey", how it looks at technology taking over (in that respect, we could also add "A Clockwork Orange"). Definitely worth seeing.

I am not really that familiar with the work of Jan Svankmajer, and this film came as quite an eye-opened; its one of the most intense and disturbing films I have ever seen. For this loose adaptation of Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" Svankmajer uses grainy black and white footage and shoots mostly from the point of view of the story's unfortunate protagonist. It's a struggle of man, his will to live, and his intellect serving this will versus the slow but seemingly inescapable domination of machines (sort of a medieval version of "2001: A Space Odyssey"). The visual imagery is fascinating and an outstanding presentaion of the Gothic sensibility. The film is also the best realization of Poe's fiction that I have seen (much better than the surprisingly bad adaptations of Poe that Vadim, Malle and Fellini directed in "Spirits of the Dead"). Its a masterpiece. I give it a 10. If you have the chance to see this work, I advise you not to pass it up.