Le joueur de flûte

Who are the greatest masterminds that come to mind when you think of mature and macabre animated movies? Undoubtedly Tim Burton ("Corpse Bride", "Frankenweenie") and the acclaimed Henry Selick ("The Nightmare before Christmas", "Coraline"). From the lesser obvious countries perhaps also Sylvain Chomet ("Les Triplettes de Belleville") and Fernando Cortizo ("The Apostle"). But has anyone ever heard of the Czech craftsman Jirí Barta? No, and admittedly I hadn't either, but "Krysar" - his interpretation of the infamous fairly tale "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" - is truly one of the most visually astounding and uncanny animated movies ever made.

To be honest, I'm very biased. "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" has always been my favorite bedtime story. I consider it one of the tales that laid the foundation for my unhealthy interest in horror and morbidity ever since childhood. "The Pied Piper" is simply one of the eeriest tales ever written, and especially the versions that were going around during my childhood years were a lot grimmer and more disturbing than the other fairy tales.

Barta clearly thought so too, and he even adds several dimensions of fright and nightmarishness to his vision. The town of Hamelin is a crooked and petrifying place, inspired by the German expressionism of the early 1920s. Take one distant look at Hamelin, and you'll find yourself catapulted straight back to the era of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari". All the inhabitants of Hamelin, with only one notable exception, are loathsome figures. They are cold & selfish creatures, only interested in money and profitable economics, and they are definitely scarier than the rats that are gradually infesting the rotten and crooked houses from underneath the ground. The rest of the film is fairly loyal to the original story. The mysterious piper appears and offers a solution to the rat-infestation in exchange for a reward, but the greedy Hamelin town-council refuses to pay. The piper's payback, however, is slightly different again, and surely the main reason why this isn't a movie suitable for children (except maybe those with an early appetite for horror).

The sinister designs of the town and the characters are beyond impressive, and the stop-motion techniques used to bring them to life are absolutely flawless. The dinner party held amongst Hamelin's most elite town members is a sheer expressionist nightmare to behold. The inhabitants also speak an inexistant language, but you don't have to understand anything to know they're solely communicating about money, power, and corruption. "Krysar" is an indescribable viewing experience, and thanks to its modest running time it only takes one hour of your life. It's worth that, what are you waiting for?

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.

I first decided that I had to see this film after seeing a few video clips of it at a website (if you want to find them - and trust me, it's worth it - go to a search engine and type in "Krysar clips"). The animation style was like nothing that I had ever seen before. If anything, it was like cubism in motion - more like the 1920 expressionistic horror film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (except in colour) than any traditional animation. Perspectives are skewed, characters are disfigured, and everything is made out of a material that you don't usually hear about in connection with animation - wood.

Having decided to watch it, I did a bit of searching and found that it was available on two different DVDs. First, there was a DVD available through some Japanese sites called "Labyrinth Of Darkness & Light" which featured most of Jiri Barta's work including Krysar (it came out to 118 minutes in total). Unfortunately, it cost 6000Yen, which is about $55USD - a little too expensive for me (EDIT: As of September 16, 2006, this DVD has been released in the US for a much cheaper price, and with English subtitles! This is definitely the version to get!). Second, there was another version of Krysar available by itself on a PAL R2 DVD for around 20 Euro on several French online stores. That's the one I bought - the PAL R2 thing wasn't an issue for me because I have a modded DVD player (they cost as little as $80 nowadays). This DVD also included a colourful 10-page booklet with an interview with Jiri Barta.

There were no English subtitles on my DVD, but this wasn't really problem because outside of the introduction all characters speak only gibberish in the film, a technique which works surprisingly well and also makes this film transcend language barriers.

Once I finally watched the film, I was simply amazed. Not only was the visual design simply sublime at all levels, but the music was memorable and appropriate, and the film worked really well as a story - the fears that I had about this film turning out to be just eye candy were completely allayed. There were many scenes in this movie which were genuinely powerful, a fair few which were amusing (in a grotesque way), and some which were quite beautiful. Even now as I write this, there are many scenes that I still remember vividly - the scene where the Hamelin city elite engage in debauchery, spilling wine and gnawing on meat bones; the scenes where the rats take complete control of the city at night; the scene in which a painting is created as the pied piper plays on his pipe; and many others.

If you're a fan of the unusual, and don't mind seeing something so completely different from Hollywood and Disney movies (which is not to say that there's nothing to appreciate in Hollywood/Disney movies), you really owe it to yourself to see this film. Watch the film clips that you can find on a Google search, and if you like what you see, just remember - there's a lot more of that in the full film, and those aren't even the best bits.

One thing that I DISLIKED though was that the "Krysar" DVD came without a chapter select, which in my opinion is inexcusable for a film that's nearly an hour long. Still, the image and sound quality were very good. I guess life can't be perfect. ;)

If you have any more questions about this film or the DVD, don't hesitate to send me a private message (you can do this by clicking on my name at the top of this review).

Probably Jiří Barta's most famous movie, "Krysař" is his own, very twisted (but fully relevant) version of "The Pied Piper". And it's like no version that you've ever seen.

We all know that Hamelin is overrun with rats, but this requires further explanation in Barta's interpretation. You see, the people are no better than the rodents: greedy, lusty, and often violent towards each other, the inhabitants of Hamelin are absolutely vile (except for the lone woman and a fisherman). But the actual rats present an impressive scenario. Far from the killing machines that the story often makes them out to be, these rats appear to be really clever, always figuring out ways to steal the humans' belongings.

As for the piper himself, he comes across as a sort of otherworldly presence, especially because of what he does at the end. But it's the only thing that he can do. Hamelin, meanwhile, looks like something out of a 1920s German movie.

Another movie version of the story that I've seen is one in which Donovan plays the piper. That version pertains more to the Bubonic Plague, which is probably what the original story centered on. This one is an analogy for a morally bankrupt society. The repulsive decadence that has taken over Hamelin is beyond redemption.

So this is truly one that I recommend.

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...