Krysar

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).

Krysar, also known as "The Rat Catcher", is a truly beautiful bit of obscure animation, executed by Czech animator Jiri Barta (not to be confused with the late Jiri Trnka).

The most amazing aspect of Krysar, other than its sheer oddity, is the unfathomable amount of labor that went into its production. If you manage to find a copy of this film with "the making of" included, you'll be astonished as characters evolve from sketches into finalized wax sculpts, which are later perfectly replicated in wood by a master carver.

While the storytelling itself is linear, the characters faux language makes Krysar an interesting ride. People often liken the visuals with cubism, which does a somewhat accurate job of summing up the animations crooked 3D format. Every shot is a very well planned collage of 3D puppets and skewed sets.

If you enjoy stop motion, and animation in general, this is a very colorful, disturbing, and worthwhile piece of puppet animation. While not entirely suitable for children, I wouldn't hesitate in showing this to teens.

After years of being unable to purchase Barta's work within the US, a wonderful compilation of his work has finally been released onto a region 1 DVD. The disc is entitled "The Labyrinth of Darkness", which I find rather humorous. A compilation of Barta's work was released years earlier in Japan, with almost the same title "Labyrinth of Darkness and Light". I guess America's Grimm loving population is too cool for the light.

Related Fable Animations: Old Czech Legends - Jiri Trnka The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship - Francis Vose

As if it's brief running time or its oddly unique visual design weren't enough for this version of THE PIED PIPER not to be seen widely (especially by children - the nominal audience for "fairy tales"), KRYSAR has some ghoulishly Brothers Grimm imagery to boot. Too bad. This is an excellent extended short subject directed by Jirí Barta who's style may remind one of Jan Svankmajer or the Brothers Quay, without appearing derivative at all. KRYSAR follows the Pied Piper legend fairly faithfully - though with some notable Grand Guignol twists and horrific visions - until its final, unexpected, last act which I won't spoil. It's this final "topper" which separates this version from the pack - In addition to its visuals. The Visuals! Amazing and detailed wood-cut puppets that have a fluidity of motion that, at times, can be mesmerizing. The only flaw in the Visuals, is the use of paint accrection landscape paintings. Not that the "moving, flowing" artwork isn't well-rendered, they just don't mesh with the stop-motion animation - or the live rats!

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.