The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia

This is an exceptionally good film by the odd stop-motion film maker, Jan Svankmajer--a man known for his "unique" films such as ALICE and JABBERWOCKY. Well, despite being a very unusual film, DEATH OF STALINISM IN BOHEMIA is much, much easier to watch than yet another Gothic stop-motion film (it's downright normal compared to many of his other films), provided you understand about the history of Communism in Czechoslovakia.

The film begins with Stalin's bust giving birth, so to speak, to a puppet government in Czechoslovakia just after WWII. The Stalinist way of doing things, the repression and the grand government that served the will of the USSR is well represented. Then, as each succeeding Soviet leader came to power, the pictures on the wall morph into the new leaders (such as Khrushchev and Brezhnev)--that is, until Gorbachev. Then, the bust of Stalin reappears to symbolize the rebirth of the country with it's so-called "Velvet Revolution"--a peaceful transition to power. Along the way, the mechanization of the Czech people, their unsuccessful revolt against the Soviets in 1968 and their new love of freedom are represented.

The entire story is told using hands and a variety of props, pictures and lots of clay. The process by which the story is told is VERY hard to describe, but it's very original and very enjoyable. Also, by the way, when the freedom under Gorbachev is mentioned, they use some 18th century engravings that are incredibly sexual--representing just how far their new freedom would go. Parents might just want to think twice about showing this portion to young kids.

Like so many films that deal with oppression and despair from invading forces, for me to truly understand would be quite inappropriate. This film deals with the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1948 and Stalin's influence. Having seen the remnants of this it must have been appalling for these people of great spirit and national pride. Well done and provocative.

More human than historical or political- this addresses us as so many Svankmajer pieces do. The human (sculptor) is God (the divine is human to clay as we are human to a certain historic animalism). The God (a prosthetic god- appendage of the machine) sculpts all from clay in the same image. It is an industrial creationism. Rapid consumption follows- sculpting, hanging, recycling...(might this massive rolling pin not call to mind Eisenstein's Odessa Steps?). But the cycle ends- the graven image is now painted, becomes neutralized as a work of art rather than an honorific bust, and God washes the guilt from hands that now begin again the meandering creation.

The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia(1990) by Jan Svankmajer is 10 minutes long surrealistic film that depicts the history of Czechoslovakia from the end of WWII (May 9, 1945 is celebrated as the Victory Day in Europe) until 1990 - the fall of the Pro-Soviet Government as a result of Velvet Revolution in 1989 and dividing Czechoslovakia into two independent countries, Czech Republic (with Prague as Capital) and Slovakia (Bratislava). The period in the history of Czechoslovakia that lasted for 45 years was connected very closely with that of the former USSR. That's why there are so many references to the Russian history, politicians, and culture in the film. Before our eyes, in a very disturbing scene, a surgeon cuts open the face of the Stalin's bust from which a smaller bust of Klement Gottwald covered in blood is "born". The scene illustrates how the Communist Party came to power in 1948 under the leadership of Gottwald, the faithful Stalin's pupil and follower. Svankmajer subtitled the short "A work of Agitprop", and it is undeniably his most political work but at the same it is a work of Art with typical and mesmerizing combination of many techniques such as clay animation, stop motion and the documentary that made Svankmajer unique and his every film unforgettable

After so many years of quirky imagery in his short films, Jan Svankmajer made "The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia", portraying the history of Czechoslovakia from the time that the Soviet Union took over in 1948, to the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Probably the two most fascinating scenes are when a bust of Stalin is cut open and they pull out another bust, and then when rolling pins charge through the streets like Soviet tanks crushing Prague Spring.

Even for someone like me, who doesn't know all that much about Czech history, this is still an impressive piece of work. I definitely recommend it.