2015 ‘Filmový dobrodruh Karel Zeman’ Directed by Tomáš Hodan
A look at the life, work and importance of Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman (1910-89), a genius of world cinema, a wizard of special effects, revealing his sources of inspiration and his revolutionary filming techniques.
David Novotný Ludmila Zeman Terry Gilliam Tim Burton Boris Masník Kamil Fila Karel Hutěčka Zdeněk Ostrčil Paul Wells Tony Dalton Koji Yamamura Kōsei Ono Josef Lukáš Zdeněk Husták Petr Herrmann Valentina Thielová Michal Pospíšil Magda Vášáryová Emil Horváth Karel Smyczek Rock Demers Zdeněk Krupa Pavla Bastanová Petra Jurošková Yana Shevchenko Michal Domian Zuzana Horáková Jana Černohorská Iva Škrbelová Show All…
Karel Zeman: Adventurer in Film, Karel Zeman – filmový dobrodruh, Film Adventurer: Karel Zeman
Italy
Expo Milano
Czechia
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Czechia
Summer Film School
Australia
Czech & Slovak Film Festival
Japan
International Animation Festival Hiroshima
Croatia
Vukovar Film Festival
France12
Spain
Czechia
Australia
Croatia
Czechia
France
Italy
Japan
Spain
I've been fully immersing myself in the world of Czech animator/filmmaker Karel Zeman recently. From the spellbinding fantasy of Baron Munchausen to the adventurous A Thousand and One Nights, I've simply adored everything I've seen from Zeman. This documentary does an excellent job of painting a solid picture of a marketing creative, turned animator, turned filmmaker - with some genuinely engaging interviews with those that knew him or were inspired by his work.
Interestingly, this documentary bookends the bulk of the research and history with students from a Czech university animation/film course recreating sequences from Zeman's best known works with similar techniques. I've stated before that Zeman's approach to animation and filmmaking in general seems like absolute wizardy to me.…
When we speak of cinema in 1950s Czechoslovakia, we have to remember it was state-planned cinema, nationalized in 1945. The first significant pressure was felt in 1948, at the time of the communist takeover, when the so-called "dictatorship of the proletariat" was established. It was in reality a dictatorship of a very small group with certain grand aesthetic ideals. This was "socialist realism", which was horrible nonsense, a combination of utopianism, kitsch, and political art, and a desire to rewrite all of history. Films suddenly became much more heavy-handed.
– Kamil Fila, film critic
Wow. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
☆"It wasn't what the bosses in Prague were looking for."☆
I so enjoyed the Criterion Collection box set of Karel Zeman films, restoring his three most notable features: Journey to the Beginning of Time, Invention for Destruction, and The Fabulous Baron Munchausen. It has a lot of extras too, including four short films and new brief interviews and analyses.
Naturally, there's a documentary feature on the Czech animator and director, so you know I'm down for that. Tomáš Hodan brings together all the clips and commentary in the informative work Filmový dobrodruh Karel Zeman ["Film Adventurer Karel Zeman"], a standard biodoc in most ways but definitely worth watching for new fans and devotees of Zeman's amazing style.
My favorite elements…
I absolutely adore the way this documentary had a group of students recreate a scene (several scenes actually) from Zeman's Journey to the Beginning of Time with three of the original actors (all much older), whilst interlacing traditional interviewing of actors, collaborators, and directors influenced by Zeman. Such an incredible delve into the visual and fantastical world Karel Zeman created. Awe-inspiring closure to my voyage into the imagination!
Simple, informative doc about one of animation's overlooked geniuses. The through-line about modern-day students trying to replicate his techniques without CGI or any other tricks that were unavailable to Zeman recalls his own documentary short Karel Zeman detem. Unlike most magicians, he was always eager to reveal his secrets.
Karel Zeman sangatlah underrated. Ia pendongeng dan animator yang jenius. Ia mampu menggerakan gambar, boneka, bahkan gelas kaca. Karya-karyanya mempengaruhi filmography Terry Gilliam. Sudah seharusnya film-film Karel Zeman kita tonton dan kita bicarakan hingga hari ini.
Solid documentary on Karel Zeman. Loved seeing how some of his special effects were achieved. Definitely way too tired to fully appreciate this though.
One could read a certain irony in this documentary's ending, in which the young film students who have been recreating some of Karel Zeman's most famous shots view the results of their work and find that it's often so successful as to be interchangeable with the originals–like damn, a bunch of kids could do this? Why were we making a big deal about this guy? But I think the fact that Zeman's films look like something you could do yourself (even if it isn't actually that simple) is part of what makes them inspiring and gives them an approachable charm that more convincing modern FX creations don't have.
A documentary on the work of animator and filmmaker Karel Zeman, featuring interviews with those he inspired (Gilliam, Burton, etc.). It could have taken more influence from the animator himself and been done a little bit more dynamically, but it's substantial enough. It's definitely a plus to have a light shining on an artist who is not as well known in the West.
Even if I never see any more of his work beyond what has been presented in the recent Criterion set, Karel Zeman has immediately become one of my all-time favorite filmmakers.
