Moznosti dialogu

This is a rather interesting short film from legendary animator/filmmaker Jan Svankmajer that looks at the notions of communication breakdown and personal alienation. It is a completely stop-motion piece of animation; offering something of a social parable broken into three individual chapters. The sequences include Exhaustive Discussion, Passionate Discussion and finally, Factual Conversation. Each segment is supposed to represent a satirical comment on various aspects of communication breakdown within modern Czech culture, though whether or not you choose to follow this particular interpretation will be entirely down to you.

Regardless of the message, which could be viewed as somewhat simplistic in relation to Svankmajer's more engaging works - such as The Flat (1968), Jabberwocky (1971), Alice (1988) and Conspirators of Pleasure (1996) - it is the animation that remains the truly impressive factor in this film's overall design, with the director creating some wonderful characters and scenarios out of a variety of old, inanimate objects. If you are a fan of the bizarre, provocative and imaginative world that this particular filmmaker creates, then Dimensions of Dialog (1982) (or more fittingly, Possibilities of Dialog, given both the design and thematic subtext) should be required viewing.

These short films were very visually appealing, as you watch pieces of food and clay be formed to the audiences own interpretation. It must of taken days to create a film purely made up of objects, which in every detail you can see in it's impressive flow to the animation of the film. I really enjoyed the interaction between the two clay humans and the message they were trying to make through the interaction of both because it can be taken in many different ways, which is the purpose of art; to make one think outside of the box. Jan Svankmajer's "Dimensions of Dialogue" was created in 1982, and was composed of three short films in which were purely animation. I liked how different it was to many other films in the 1980s and it really set itself apart from many of the other films out there at that moment in time.

The grotesque charm of this trio of short films is hard to beat. They each work separately but gain a lot from being seen together.

They convey in a language of images profound truths in a lively, eerie, unpretentious way. There is always something neat to look at and went away from this just feeling full, the way you do after a good meal, not needing anymore.

We should all know by now that Czech animator Jan Svankmajer is the master of the weird (sorry, Terry Gilliam, but this guy beat you to the punch). With "Moznosti dialogu", he goes all out as food and utensils eat each other, clay figures have a most unusual experience kissing each other...more tricks follow.

What's the point of all these images? Who knows. One could try to analyze it - and probably get a headache from doing so - but I'd say that the real point is to get enthralled. Either way, this short flick truly has Svankmajer written all over it. You could be deaf and the whole thing would still be fascinating. So definitely "Czech" it out.

Jan Svankmager's "Dimensions of Dialogue" is a collection of short films made up of stop-motion photography, live action, and animation. In the first act, Exhaustive Discussion, two heads made of all sorts of food and utensils are reduced to chunks and pieces through unique stop-motion animation. The heads devour and regurgitate each other into new forms over and over in a apologue of Evolution until we have clay heads continuously devouring and regurgitating. In the second act, Passionate Discourse, the two heads have become male and female, fall in love, and have sensual sex where they blend together. When they revert back to man and women there exists a needy lump of clay in between them, seemingly their child. Neither wants to care for the child and they begin to throw the lump back and forth at one another. The fight continues to escalate until they have virtually destroy one another. In the final act, Factual Conversation, two new heads appear-those of middle-aged men-and they begin spitting out and sucking back into their mouths various objects, interacting with one another through physical use of their tongues to manipulate the various objects for their dual benefit. Their exchanges become increasingly irrational, finally ending in destruction. Through use of human forms which are dismantled, scattered, merged and then weirdly constructed, "Dimensions of Dialogue" serves as a visually entertaining pessimistic study about the types of dialogue people have with one another, and the way that these dialogues can go horribly wrong. Some feel that it is Svankmajer's greatest film, and one of the most astounding animated shorts ever made. Whether that's true or not, his films have had a huge influence on modern avant-garde and stop-motion animators, as well as influencing the likes of Tim Burton and the Brothers Quay, and it is a film well worth watching.