Krysar

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.

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.

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.

An amazing Czech adult stop-motion animation film, loosely based on the German folk tale the Pipe Piper of Hamelin, directed by Jiri Barta. A real art-house piece of animation that has a mix of Renaissance and Medieval elements.

There are many original elements about this film. The first one is the story, which deviates from the original mostly in the fact that is socially allegorical and there are not children on view, but one at the end. The Hamelin of Barta is a greedy, glutton and lusty society dominated by males, which could perfectly mimic our modern world. The piper is the punisher and redemptor, and the catalyst necessary for human renewal in this sort of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The second element of originality is its language... which is... International language... that is, onomatopoeic sounds, grunts, mumblings and gibbering, perfectly understandable by any viewer in the world. I found it hilarious! The third element of originality is the visual style of the movie, which are traditional and innovative at the same time, very odd actually, but very artistic. There are two elements in the animation: 1/ carved backgrounds with wood puppets, in very dark colors, and 2/ colorful paintings on wood. Hamelin's backgrounds, architecture and building interiors are made of carved wood, as the one you could find for example in some Renaissance choir chairs in some churches and cathedrals, but German expressionist in its design, with oppressive spaces, diagonal and curved lines that seem to collapse, with unbalanced proportions and oniric elements. The atmosphere is very dark and oppressive. On the contrary, the paintings are bucolic and very artistic and match the sort of countryside painting that you could find in Books of Hours of the late Middle Ages (Gothic period), and they are beautiful and colorful, light and human, a total counterpoint to the rest of the visuals, especially because they are associated to the most human characters of the story. The truth is that I found in the movie very Bergman's, in a way, with elements that you could find in movies like The Seventh Seal or the Virgin Spring.

The third element of originality is the design of the characters. Most of them are wood puppets, with mobile parts and fabric clothing. They are angular-faced but tall and thing. Also wooden but with a complete different style is the character of the piper, who looks like a mix of walking skeleton, a Goth rock band member, and an apocalyptic angel. Finally, the two good characters in the city are the little lady living in the outskirts of the city and the fisherman, who are made of wood, but very refined, human-like, and very sweet and delicate (a reflection of their soul). The rest of the characters are, of course, the rats, real ones (although they looked more mice than rats to me), the size of the human characters, naughty monsters as greedy as the humans, which move rapidly and awkwardly, giving them a grotesque aspect that goes perfectly with the whole style of the film.

Finally, the music is terrific - a mix of dark classic pieces and rock sounds with the ethereal sound of the flute as only breaker.

The end is great, and has nothing to do with the traditional story. It couldn't be otherwise as the movie is an allegorical reflection on society and humanity. The title in Czech means rat trapper, which works not only literally, as the Hamelin dwellers are as much as pest as the rats are.

The only thing I did not like is that some general scenes were repeated over and over, like some of the movement in the cities or some landscape shots.

The film is not for small kids because there are too many hard things to explain: lust, rape, killing of animals, stealing, death, and the general nastiness of the dwellers of the city.

Fantastic.