Vieilles légendes tchèques

It is always interesting seeing stop motion/puppet animation and especially the older stuff. It can be old-fashioned but very charmingly so, have more often than not found it lovely to watch and at its best magical. Never being too crude or trying to do too much. What has been seen of stop motion/puppet animation pioneer Jiri Trnka's work is really quite impressive and he and his films are deserving of more credit now if gems such as 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'Bajaja' are to come by.

'Old Czech Legends' may not be one of Trnka's finest or most accessible and it is easy to see why it has not connected with other reviewers. To me it is still an impressive film in many ways and is a very ambitious effort for him on particularly the visual front. Any appeal that 'Old Czech Legends' is more than understandable and is justified. Perfect it is not, far from it, but 'Old Czech Legends' succeeds much more than its fails and its best aspects are really quite superb. Also learnt a good deal from it.

Beginning with what is not quite right with 'Old Czech Legends', there are dull stretches in the pace from where the film becomes on the over-stretched side.

Also thought that there were points where the movements were on the stiff side.

Most of the visuals however are excellent and remarkably ambitious in terms of detail in effects and backgrounds. Have not seen such elaborate and vivid fire and smoke in a while in this kind of film and the camera work is astonishingly good and at times surreal. The music is grandiose in tone and full of atmosphere, and the more chaotic moments have genuine unease. Trnka's direction is at some points delicate and at other points full-throated.

For me, the storytelling was not too simplified, if at times on the thin side hence the dull stretches, and was not hard to follow. Though it does perhaps depend on how many Trnka films you've seen, if familiar with his style it shouldn't be too much of a shock, and which one you start with, as some are more accessible than others. The storytelling is very charming, nostalgic and also quite educational in its portrayal of old Bohemian life. The characters are as alive in personality as they are in look and in terms of atmosphere 'Old Czech Legends' is a triumph.

Overall, very good if not mind-blowing. 8/10.

Recently viewing two films by auteur Karel Zeman I decided to check if I had any other Czech animated films waiting to be viewed. Taking part in ICM's 50's Viewing Challenge the same time as the Eastern European one,I was pleased to find a non-Zeman Czech cartoon title from the 50's,which led to me seeing the legends come to life.

View on the film:

Sowing together various Czech folk tales,co-writer/(with Alois Jirasek/Jiri Brdecka & Milos Vaclav Kratochvíl ) director Jiri Trnka gives little in establishing the stories for viewers not familiar with their origins, where the extended narrations go more into detail over what is being shown on screen, rather than using narrations to bring clarity to the blended in tales. Backed by a biblical operatic score, the stop-motion animation style of Jiri Trnka walks close to style later used in Bible Tales cartoons shown in RE, in the large puppets moving with a rough, jerky stop/start motion in re-telling of these old Czech tales.

This is some of the most ambitious stop-motion that I've seen to date. Jiri Trnka wasn't at all intimidated by the technical challenges of the medium, and steamed ahead to tell "Old Czech Legends" without compromise.

The Character movements are executed so competently; only a master like Trnka could pull something like this off. The level of detail, volume of characters, and even the camera work leaves nothing other than "impressive" in my mind. Fire, smoke, spinning camera moves, walking in snow, crowds, birds, quadrupeds, delicate props and matte paintings... it's all here.

The European gestures are fun to watch, so unconventional when compared to traditional formulaic American animation. If you're a fan of stop-motion, or animation in general, this one's for you.

This animation can by purchased through Amazon Japan.