THE PIED PIPER (KRYSA), 1986, Czechoslovakia, 53 min. Director Ji Bartas stop-motion animated masterpiece, based on The Pied Piper of Hamelin, is set in a dark and twisted medieval village of narrow streets and weird Gothic arches, half-CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI and half-Jan van Eyck. The money-obsessed citizens, carved out of wood blocks and speaking in an onomatopoeic babble, are like George Grosz caricatures, literally spouting coins from their mouths instead of words. The rats are far more organic and sympathetic, made of real fur and whiskers, constantly tunneling and burrowing under the towering arches and cobblestone streets above. Fans of fellow Czech animation legend Jan vankmajer and the Brothers Quay will adore Bartas eerie, Expressionist gem, recently restored by Deaf Crocodile for its first-ever U.S. Blu-ray release, in association with Krtk Film Praha and Comeback Company. This new Deluxe 2-Disc Edition features seven beautifully restored Barta short films, two director interviews, an all-new visual essay and more.
Bartas mastery of all aspects of filmmaking are evident: staging, production design, lighting, animation, editing, sound and music combine into dark worlds of repression and revolt with ironic conclusions. Phil Tippett (MAD GOD).
Special Features
Disc One
- THE PIED PIPER feature, restored by Craig Rogers for Deaf Crocodile
- Ji Bartas short film THE VANISHED WORLD OF GLOVES, a marvelous tour through cinema history told through animated gloves (1982, 16 min.)
- CHRONICLE OF THE PIED PIPER, a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of Bartas masterpiece (1985, 13 min., dir. Miroslava Humplkov) in Czech with English subtitles
- Video interview with director Ji Barta, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile
- Audio commentary by Czech film expert Irena Kovarova of Comeback Company and film critic & historian Peter Hames
Disc Two
- Six Barta short films, newly restored by Deaf Crocodile:
- RIDDLES FOR A CANDY (1978, 8 min.) In Bartas debut short, a fantastical anteater-shaped creature must solve complicated riddles posed by a magical book
- DISC JOCKEY (1980, 10 min.). Everyday life is a world of discs: plates, ashtrays, buttons, a copy of Abbey Road, in Bartas satire of empty modern life
- THE DESIGN (1981, 6 min.). An apartment block comes to life on a drafting board, in Bartas critique of state-socialist housing
- A BALLAD ABOUT GREEN WOOD (1983, 11 min.) A miniature masterpiece about the occult mysteries of earth, sky, stone, wood and snow
- THE LAST THEFT (1987, 21 min.) Bartas spectral ghost story follows a thief who breaks into an apparently-abandoned mansion to loot it of its treasures
- THE CLUB OF THE LAID OFF (1989, 25 min.) Bartas disturbing stop-motion gem is set in a decrepit apartment where wooden mannequins mimic their almost-human “lives”
- New video interview with director Ji Barta about his short films, moderated by Dennis Bartok
- New visual essay narrated by Czech film expert Irena Kovarova of Comeback Company, film critic & historian Peter Hames and edited by Ryan Verrill of Someones Favorite Productions
- New artwork by Beth Morris
- Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion
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