Czech director Jan Svankmajer is well-known in film buff circles for his strange yet endearing approach to surrealism. In 1988, the director released Alice, which is loosely based on the the classic Alice in Wonderland story.
The colors and proportions are dreamlike and lucid — even more so than one might imagine, and the pace in which it moves is both enchanting and perplexing. Svankmajer calls it a children’s film, but any adult would be equally as entertained by the strangeness of it all.
In Svankmajer’s Alice, the main character switches back and forth between being a human and a doll. And there’s no shortage of weird little details that make you cringe: rats that decide to camp out on Alice’s head and start a bonfire, socks that function as worms and crawl in and out of the wooden floors, animal creatures collaged out of bones, metal and scarps who try to trap Alice into a closet full of creepy, crawly things.
Though the story is predictable as far as Alice in Wonderland goes, it’s worth watching simply for Svankmajer’s strange vision. Alice as a character is also strong-headed and inspiring. Oh, and there’s lots of weird taxidermy, too. You can watch the entire thing on YouTube, without English subtitles (last video embedded).
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