Chronique d'un fou

The children's films made in the Socialist countries were just about their only productions not to be blighted by dogma. Though it's slow and it's characters are thinly etched THE JESTER'S TALE is still agreeable. The combination of live action and drawn material has style through it's lack of artifice - real troops extend the painted line, the points of the compass appear in the sky above the real horsemen. The black and white composite images remain striking.

The film is the contemporary of FAN FAN LA TULIPE and shares the same enjoyable spirit as well as similar action choreography. If animator Zeman had been more at home with actors he might have made this one a more memorable venture but what he has done is still pleasant viewing.

THE JESTER'S TALE makes an interesting comparison with the serious Czech historical drama HONOR AND GLORY set in the same period.

I have seen this film on Dutch television about 35 years ago and never saw it again since. So my memories about it have faded a lot, even though the film made quite an impression on me at the time. The jester tells a tale about a small boy and a small girl who go through a lot of adventures against the very grim background of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), in which Czechia suffered enormously. The movie is a clever combination of cartoon and acting, skillfully integrated. (Maybe it won't make that much impression on a contemporary public "spoiled" by modern computer simulation technics).

This is not only an outstanding Czech film: it's an outstanding film, period. But I'd never even heard of it before two nights ago.

Animation, puppetry and fairy-tale have a higher status in pretty much every culture except the Anglo-American, for reasons I can't fathom. They are combined here with gentle satire that reminds me of Cervantes - indeed, Quixotic windmills feature early on in this masterly movie, as if deliberately making the link. So wittily. so seamlessly are the various contributory arts brought together that it feels like a single person's vision. Such is the extraordinary achievement of the collaboration between director Karel Zeman and writer Pavel Jurácek.

The leading couple are played by Petr Kostka and Emília Vásáryová, now veteran performers in their homeland. They are wonderful, especially Kostka, with his warm smile, watchful eyes and effortless athleticism. They're joined by a bunch of skillful character actors, notably Miroslav Holub as the opportunistic Matej and Valentina Thielová as an icy, spoilt princess.

The whole thing kept me smiling throughout its 82 minutes, including many laugh-old-loud moments. It's everything that Wes Anderson, Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam have been trying to achieve throughout their careers (they all avow Zeman as a major influence) but none of them have found the right balance of ingredients yet to come up with as superb a confection as this (although in Anderson's latest, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL [2014] he's come nearer than he has before). There is however, a British movie that has approached THE JESTER'S TALE, at least in terms of its pre-Gilliam use of animation, and that is THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1968), directed by Tony Richardson, written by Charles Wood. However, Richardson's film is angrier and more bitter in tone. Zeman's is wiser, more generous, more human. All the more remarkable, given that so much of his work,including THE JESTER'S TALE, was made during the Cold War, when his country was under the Soviet yoke.

To make one thing clear: all Zeman films are great! I saw them many years ago as a child and now, 25 years later, I had the luck to see them all again. They are still as good as in my memories. OK, the technical standards have moved forward since then, but good stories and fanciful images have their advantages and will be honored by today's unbiasedly viewers too. I watched another Zeman film ("Journey to the Beginning of Time") recently with my son (6 years old) - and he was excited! "The Jester's Tale" is nearly as good as all the other Zeman classics (although it can't quite reach my all-time classics "The Fabulous World of Jules Verne", "Journey to the Beginning of Time" and "Stolen Airship"). If you have the possibility to watch these films again - do it, they are worth it!

What can one possibly say except that this is utterly brilliant? Sure, there have been plenty of other titles to skewer the military, war, the ruling class, and the politics thereof, and in the form of dark comedies at that. I'm hard-pressed to name many if any others, however, that employed such a deft, light touch to do so, or frankly, which were so marvelously clever. I know some point to Jean-Jacques Annaud's 'Black and white in color' or Jean Renoir's 'The rules of the game' as like-minded exemplars, but as far as I'm concerned neither of those hold a candle to 'Bláznova kronika.' Fabulously wry wit characterizes every gag, every sharp line of dialogue, and all the situational humor, not to mention tremendously smart use of audio and visuals alike. Filmmaker Karel Zeman and co-writer Pavel Jurácek penned a terrifically smart screenplay: telling a well-rounded and compelling story, with meaningfully written characters and fabulously flavorful and fastidious scene writing, but bending it always toward magnificently quick, farcical comedy. Moreover, Zeman illustrates a stupendously keen mind as director, managing to orchestrate every scene with an unlikely balance of perfectly serious, straight-faced drama, and sheer unremitting silliness. Truthfully, this might be one of the funniest movies I've seen, for from the very start through to the very end I was laughing heartily. That this isn't more well known is practically criminal!

It's absolutely not just the writing, however, for in every last regard this is altogether exceptional. The sets and the costume design could not possibly be more gorgeous and rich with detail, to the point that I wonder if I've ever seen another period piece with such grand visuals. The hair, makeup, props, and weapons aren't far behind, and still all these facets might be superseded by the excellent stunts, effects, and fight choreography; there are airs here of classic swashbuckling adventure flicks, and the dexterity of every moving part is such a joy to watch. The cast, meanwhile, give wholehearted, spirited performances that not only are a blast for we spectators, but which seem to clearly indicate that the actors themselves were having the time of their lives making this. That goes even for those in smaller supporting parts, like Valentina Thielová or Vladimír Mensík, but definitely applies most for the principal trio of Petr Kostka, Miloslav Holub, and Emília Vásáryová, portraying protagonist Petr, chief supporting character Matyás, and love interest Lenka, respectively. Not least for the fairy tale type slant that Zeman gives this pseudo-historical saga, the number of characters could even have been feasibly reduced and those three could pick up the slack, for the energy they (and their co-stars) bring to the proceedings does so much to sustain the vibrant mirth and energy that the picture carries through its eighty-one minutes.

Yet aside from the writing and the subsequent humor all this might nevertheless pale in comparison to the ingenious manner in which the narrative is imparted. 'Bláznova kronika' pointedly recalls yet precedes the rise to acclaim of Czech filmmaker Jan Svankmajer, and more to the point Monty Python and their chief resident animator Terry Gilliam, for here we see both live-action, and animation, and the mix of the two in the same scenes. Some live-action sets, shots, and scenes are augmented or even defined by the meticulously hand-drawn artistry, and down to the very last shot, sometimes illustration and/or animation will be seamlessly blended into a sequence. The animation itself, of course, is wonderfully imaginative and flush with fine lines and minutiae, and ever is employed in a fanciful manner that amplifies the stated sense of fairy tale riffing on the Thirty Years' War. Hand in hand with this splendor, it's well worth observing that - again bringing to mind Monty Python as a renowned frame of reference - there are many points throughout the length when the film gleefully plays fast and loose with its own sense of reality, breaking unspoken accepted rules of fictional storytelling to toy with the universe and tell the story its own way. The result of all this is an incredibly enchanting, absorbing viewing experience that's unfailingly fun, creative, charming, and satisfying, well beyond what can be said of too many other flicks.

I didn't know anything about this when I sat to watch, but I assumed I would enjoy it. All possible expectations have been handily exceeded, and I couldn't be happier with how fantastically entertaining the feature is. I must say that there are even times within the last ten to fifteen minutes or so when it feels like the narrative has worn out its welcome, yet down to the last it rebounds and rekindles my adoration. In every way it's nothing less than a delight, from writing and direction, to acting and humor, to every last contribution from behind the scenes including the animation. I'm rather aghast that I only just discovered this, and quite by chance at that; I'm firmly of the opinion that this is desperately underappreciated, and deserves far more recognition. For as loosely as it plays with history one doesn't even need any real background to grasp the scenario; find a version with good subtitles, and there is no language barrier. Just as pleasantly surprising is that even with a couple gently suggestive shots, this is easily appropriate for all ages, too! When all is said and done I don't think there's any excuse for a potential viewer to pass this up. I repeat that 'Bláznova kronika' is almost certainly one of the funniest movies I've ever see, and in my book it's an outright must-see. No matter who you are, I'm all too glad to give this my highest, heartiest, most enthusiastic recommendation!