Pérák a SS

"The Chimney Sweep" (also known as "The Spring Man and the SS" is one of the most unusual cartoons I have ever seen and because of this, it's hard to give a rating to this one. It is worth seeing but it's certainly not the sort of thing most folks today would enjoy.

The film is a Czechoslovakian anti-Nazi occupation cartoon that came out just after WWII. While the story claims it might be true, it clearly isn't! The film begins with a horrid little collaborator spying on all his neighbors and reporting them to the SS. The folks who were arrested are marched past where a chimney sweep is working and he comes up with an odd idea--to put springs on his feet so he can sneak into the prison and liberate these people. And, using cartoon physics, he bounces all over the place--and destroying the Nazis everywhere. And, in the end, he's won the admiration of his countrymen.

"The Chimney Sweep" using VERY simple animation and is in black & white--so aesthetically speaking, it's not a lovely film. But, it manages to do a lot with this--looking very artsy and unique. I assume that color wasn't used simply because Europe was a mess after the war and color film stock was either not available or too prohibitively expensive. Still, it's a cute little cartoon--mostly for older film viewers, history buffs and the like. Odd but worth seeing. And, if you'd like, you can download it for free at archive.org.

Jiri Trnka had/has a very good reputation in his field for very good reason. He did some amazing work, such as 'Bajaja', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'The Song of the Prairie', 'Story of the Bass Cello' and especially his swansong 'The Hand'. And even lesser efforts such as 'The Merry Circus' and (for me) 'The Emperor's Nightingale' were still pretty impressive in many areas, to me he didn't do anything bad. 'The Chimney Sweep' did sound interesting though also sounded quite unusual for Trnka.

'The Chimney Sweep' is a very interesting effort from Trnka. It is not one of his best to me, it's not as good as any of the films mentioned in the second sentence. It is also, despite what the title suggests (which sounds like a title for a cute love story, but it is actually nothing of the sort), not one of his most accessible, not like 'Story of the Bass Cello', 'The Devil's Mill' and 'The Song of the Prairie'. 'The Chimney Sweep' is however very interesting and very good, as well as one of his boldest (very brave to do a subject like this considering the period) and most serious subject matter wise. Second only to 'The Hand'.

It isn't perfect. It is occasionally on the slow side, especially early on where it takes a little while to settle.

Also felt it was slightly on the heavy handed side, although 'The Hand' had an even heavier and ambitious subject it actually executed it more tactfully and with more atmosphere.

However, 'The Chimney Sweep' has a lot of good things. It is interesting visually, with it being one of Trnka's few forays into black and white. And very atmospheric and appropriately unsettling black and white too, while never looking cheap. In fact the character expressions and features are quite artistic. The music has rousing moments as well as ominous ones.

Moreover, the story mostly grabs the attention and even with the odd splashes of the amusing and the cute it does pull no punches with the subject and doesn't hold back. Which is going to make the viewer feel uneasy, suitably. While what 'The Chimney Sweep' has to say is not subtle, it is well-intentioned and has emotional power. The titular character is easy to be charmed by and wins one over, his courage is inspiring.

Concluding, very well done and appreciated it a lot but Trnka did do better. 8/10.

Jiří Trnka's "Pérák a SS" ("The Chimney Sweep") is one of the most unusual cartoons that I've ever seen. Set during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, a collaborator spies on his neighbors in a scene that reminded me of "Rear Window". The goose-stepping goons arrest several people, as well as some inanimate objects. But when a chimney sweep notices that he can bounce around on springs, he hatches a plan to free the prisoners...which also means that he plays a series of tricks on the Nazis.

It's well known that a number of WWII-era cartoons made Hitler and the Nazis look comical. Once it came out what they'd done to people, people decided that it was no longer acceptable to make the Nazis look funny. Nevertheless, the cartoons from that era have some really funny stuff, and that includes this one. I recommend it. I hope to eventually see Trnka's stop-motion cartoons.