Fimfárum Jana Wericha

The movie is animated just like Chicken Run and the true assekce dwells in the five stories, fairy-tales-not-for-children you might call them - "When the leaves fall from oak" is about a villager Cupera who drinks much and therefore he makes deals with the Devil. The first for the "thing he doesn't know he has at home". Of course a boy-baby. By a pretty trick he saves his son but starts drinking anew. The second is about his drinking - Hell is really convincing treatment for alcohol abusers! The second story is "Fearless Frankie" about a young guy who doesn't know how to fear and tries to learn. The third - "Mean Barbara" (better translation would be Miserly Barka) is a pure comedy from a small town. The fourth, shows a man addicted to lottery who believes his dreams might tell him the right numbers. They didn't but, as a paradoxon, the others' will help him to become rich. The last one is indescribable and is called "FIMFARUM", which doesn't have any meaning until...

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A wonderful Czech puppet animated adult film based in some stories by Czech actor and writer Jana Wericha (Jan Werich in English), and directed by Vlasta Pospísilová and Aurel Klimt. The film is a collection of 5 short tales: When the Leaves Fall from the Oak, Fearless Frankie, Mean Barka, A Dream Fulfilled, and Fimfárum.

The movie is a reflection of the mastery of Czech people in the use of marionettes, to give life and expression to inexpressive pieces of wood. The animation is also mixed with paper-cut figure animation. I found the little towns, villages and landscapes wonderfully created and imagined, with hints of Mediterranean culture, bucolism, and artistic drawing. It is amazing that, despite the movement of the puppets being so limited in facial expression and movement, the viewer soon forgets about the fact that they don't move their lips when they talk. as the stories are so captivating and interesting that make do for the rest.

This is traditional storytelling with a narrator voice dominating the screen, in this case Waricha himself, the stories linked by real images of Waricha and his big belly commenting on them,. The tales are as the old fables used to be, with a great understanding of human nature and social vices. Being so, the stories have a "moral" , but they are modern stories, naughty, irreverent, funny, sweet, and the moral will surprise you. I usually hate a narrator voice over telling a story, but Waricha is really good as he does so with respect for the viewers without treating us as morons. After all the stories are not for just children, or at least without supervision, as they have many adult elements: alcoholism, greediness, meanness, amorality, cheating, hell, etc. I loved all the stories, although the second one is the only one I thought belonged to another league and the least interesting.

The only flaw of the movie, to me, is that the animation of the characters is clumsy and sluggish, which somewhat depreciates the brilliance of the stories in the tales. However, the animation is also unique and imaginative, and the animators have done a super-job with the material they had.

Finfarum is a jewel of animation, an another proof that you don't need CGI to produce an engaging, en entertaining good quality animation movie.

If you know by heart all those old LPs of Werich´s fairytales like "Diva Bara" or "Az opada listi z dubu", you will love Fimfarum. I find amazing to watch other people´s visions of the same stories as I know> them forever now.

Be sure not to miss this "treasure" of Czech history.

this movie makes you think about many basic things. it will take you inside on trip with devils and cartoon people. It will make you feel like this whole movie is little town inside of your mind. It is really cool. i love that movie.