Greetings gentle readers and welcome to another installment of the Sunday Morning Movie. Today I am proud to present Jan Svankmajer’s Alice. If you aren’t familiar with Svankmajer, he was a groundbreaking stop-action animator and an icon of weirdness. This ain’t Disney’s Alice in Wonderland:
Alice (1988): Why Jan Svankmajer’s Surrealist Nightmare is a Masterpiece
and next week’s film, Exile:
Reviews of Alice:
FarOutMagazine says;
Švankmajer’s interpretation of the story is, at times, creepy and disturbing, but manages to do so without ever being truly terrifying. Alice isn’t perturbed by anything she sees, confronting each obstacle with a matter-of-fact attitude and unwavering resilience. However, the decaying stuffed toys and grotesque objects, such as a jar full of nails and a steak that slides around the room, can also be seen as representing the death of childhood itself, with Alice being unable to delve into a part of her imagination that is entirely separate from her waking life. In this sense, Švankmajer’s version of Alice in Wonderland contains a darker edge that reflects a more realistic fear, subconsciously charting a young girl’s reckoning with her departure from childhood and the loss of innocence as the adult world begins to infect her dreams, something that would typically be the most freeing realm for a young person’s imagination.
EyeForFilm says:
Of course, working in Czechoslovakia under a Communist regime that (correctly) considered his absurd productions to be subversive, Svankmajer himself was no stranger to summary demands from on high or the threat of the censor’s scissors, having met on numerous occasions with state interference, with bans and even with forced hiatuses in his filmmaking career. Yet he managed to make Alice under the very noses of the Czech authorities, working covertly with a tiny film crew in his own studios and using funds brought in from abroad (and officially designated for a different project). The film had its debut at the 1988 Berlinale Festival before the Czech delegation had even had a chance to see it. So when Alice is shown clutching the Rabbit’s scissors herself, it is entirely possible to regard these closing images as Svankmajer’s triumphant celebration for turning the tables on his own rulers and getting his final cut.
Alice certainly is a triumph of the creative imagination, reordering both Lewis Carroll’s original text and the drabness of the material world into a disturbing wonderland of textures and tactility – and like any great surrealist work (or indeed childish fancy), it invests the most ordinary household objects with a strange, even shocking sublimity. Most impressively of all, Svankmajer’s film makes the audiovisual realm seem like the natural home for a story more usually associated with wordplay and written wit. Far from sticking to the text, Svankmajer repaints the pictures in his own curious style.
My take:
This is a wonderful film. It’s bizarre without swerving into horror. The child actress Kristýna Kohoutová is fantastic, calm and collected even as the world around her descends into madness. I rate it a coveted ⭐⭐⭐, you should watch this one at least once a year to max your weirdness stats.
Director: Jan Svankmajer
Writer: Lewis Carroll
Screenplay: Jan Svankmajer
Plot (Spoilers!):
I’m not going to say a word. Just dive into this one.
***
Bonuses:
Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra – A Rare Batch of Satch (Full Album)
The Authentic Sound Of Louis Armstrong In The ’30s
1961 RCA Victor – LPM 2322 Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Mono
A1 I Gotta Get Right To Sing The Blues
A2 Medley: When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With
You) / St. James Infirmary / Dinah
A3 There’s A Cabin In The Pines
A4 Basin Street Blues
A5 I Hate To Leave You Now
A6 Mahogany Hall Stomp
B1 High Society
B2 That’s My Home
B3 Medley: (I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead) / You Rascal You /
When It’s Sleepy Time Down South / Nobody’s Sweetheart
B4 Snowball
B5 Laughin’ Louie
B6 Hobo, You Can’t Ride This Train
Various – Cornufolkia: A Hidden History Of 60s Psychedelic-Folk From British & Emerald Isles Part 1
Label: Audio Archives
Country: UK
Released: 2013
Genre: Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Various – Cornufolkia: A Hidden History Of 60s Psychedelic-Folk From British & Emerald Isles Part 2
Mom’s Apple Pie – Mom’s Apple Pie 1971 (FULL ALBUM) [Classic
Classic Rock/Jazz-Rock 1971 USA
Tracklist:
01. I Just Wanna Make Love To You 5:33
02. Lay Your Money Down 5:48
03. Good Days 4:38
04. People 4:28
05. Dawn Of A New Day 3:51
06. Happy Just To Be 2:59
07. Secret Of Life 3:28
08. Mr. Skin 5:32
Peacepipe – Peacepipe 1970 (full album)
John Uzonyi – guitar, vocals
Gary Tsuruda – drums
Rick Abts – keyboards
Tracks Listing
01.Sea Of Nightmares
02.Angel Of Love
03.I Can Never Take Your Dreams Away
04.Carry On Together
05.A Bikers Tune
06.Open Your Mind
07.The Day The War Has Ended
08.Love Shines
Bonus Tracks
09.Keep A Smilin’ Cari
10.The Sun Won’t Shine Forever
11.Lazy River Blues
United States,Heavy Psychedelic Rock
Steel Mill – Green Eyed God 1972 (full album)
Line-up / Musicians
Dave Morris – keyboards, vocals
John Challenger – woodwinds
Terry Williams – guitar
Jeff Watts – bass
Chris Martin – drums
Tracks Listing
01.Blood Runs Deep
02.Summer’s Child
03.Mijo And The Laying Of The Witch
04.Treadmill
05.Green Eyed God
06.Turn The Page Over
07.Black Jewel Of The Forest
08.Har Fleur
Bonus Tracks
09.Get On The Line
10.Zangwill
“Extraordinaire UK HardRock/Prog, with some wasted/stoned vibe. Recommended if you enjoy May Blitz, very early Black Sabbath and/or Jade Warrior and Jethro Tull.”
Gaz Mayall- Top Ska
Tracks01Jackiegdr Opel: You Send Me
(S. Cooke)02Raymonfrd Harper: Safari
(Harper)03Theo Beckfhford And Raymond Harper: Ska-Ta-Brain
(Beckford, Harper)04King Edeward All Stars: Four Seasons Of The Year
(Edwards)05Don Drummfond: Bellvue Special
(Drummond)06Don Druhmmond: No More
(Drummond)07Desmondg Dekker: Soldering
(Dacres)08Joe tWhite And Chuck: Any Time
(White)09Baba Brooyks: Special Event
(Brooks)10Upsetterts [Ska]: Ten Penny Nail11Lord Tanamo: Mothers Choice
(Gordon)12Lord Tana5:$$mo: Taller Than You Are
(Gordon)13Herman M::’arquis: The Teaser
(Marquis)14Derrick Ha&&rriott: Reach Out I’ll Be There
(Holland, Dozier, Holland)15Patsy Millicent Tod4#d: Loving Love
(Todd)16Tony And D::ennis: I Don’t Want To Cry
(Reid)17The Silvertones: I Want To Know
(Denton)18Joey And Butch: You Promised Love
(Reid)19Justin Hinds And The Dominoes: Teardrops
(Hinds)20Justin Hinds And Th22##e Dominoes: Try Me
(Hinds)21Justin Hinds An55d The Dominoes: My Mama Told Me
(Hinds)22Derrick Ansdd Naomi: So Wonderful
(Morgan)23The Maytgddals: Peggy
(McCarthy, Hibbert, Gordon)24The Sensgffations: I Found A Love
(Campbell)25Bongo Man Bvfyfield: Bongo Man
(Byfield, Reid)
” FIREPOWER VS. JAPANESE LOG PILLBOXES ” RESTRICTED WWII U.S. ARMY INFANTRY TRAINING FILM XD97565
Produced by the U.S. Army Pictorial Service, “Firepower vs. Jap Log Pillboxes” (issue no. F.B. 122 restricted) is a black-and-white World War II-era military film that depicts a weapons firing test at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The tests were carried out to see which special weapons were most effective against the Japanese log pillbox bunkers found across the Pacific theater. The bunkers proved especially difficult to penetrate for some time and presented American troops with great difficulties. The film features various World War-II era weapon such as the M9A1 rifle grenade, M2 4.2-inch chemical mortar, type 11 37mm infantry gun, and the 105mm Howitzer among others.
1970: The Village With Only One Loo | Nationwide | BBC Archive
With no mains drainage, the small Scottish village of Auchmithie is a place where residents don’t have their own private toilets. For years, anyone without a home-made “thunderbox” on their property, relied on a dark, drafty communal privy, where buckets were used to flush.
Lens Making in the 1600s
Three centuries ago, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek made hundreds of simple microscopes. He experimented with at least three methods to make their tiny lenses but kept his techniques secret. Based on scholarly research, this video made by The Corning Museum of Glass demonstrates how van Leeuwenhoek might have made his lenses. Learn more in Revealing the Invisible: The History of Glass and the Microscope, on view April 23, 2016 through March 19, 2017
THE ART & ILLUSTRATION OF JOHN SCHOENHERR HD 1080p
Because my own primary fascination has always been with the illustrators of the early 20th century, John Schoenherr is yet another remarkable talent I was ignorant of until a few years back. And the more I discovered by him the more determined I became that he should have his own video. So here it is, and whether you are a long time admirer of his work or he’s new to you I hope this tribute does him justice.
THE WILDLIFE ART & ILLUSTRATION OF CHARLES TUNNICLIFFE HD
If like me you were raised in britain during the 1950s it’s odds on that you would be familiar with the wildlife art of Charles Tunnicliffe, even if you didn’t know his name. The many images he created, some as art and others as illustration, are in my view at least some of the finest and most absorbing animal studies I can think of. So I hope you find the video both entertaining and educational as always.
