LUNACY

“What could be more natural than cult director Jan Svankmajer pairing the poetic twins of decadence, Edgar Allan Poe and the Marquis de Sade? Combining live action with the Czech director's wondrously inventive brand of animation, Lunacy is billed as a horror film, with all the degeneracy of the genre, but refuses simple straight jacketing… Fans won't be disappointed.” - Variety Master of surreal cinema Jan Svankmajer's new feature film is a joyous trip, an explication of his firmly held belief that life is lunacy and the lunatics have taken over the asylum. Loosely based on two short stories by Edgar Allen Poe, with a leading character inspired by the Marquis de Sade, Lunacy is an allegory for the crazy world we live in. Young Jean, plagued by maddening nightmares after his mother's funeral, is invited by a Marquis to spend the night in his castle. After helping him conquer his fears through a blasphemous orgy and a 'therapeutic' funeral, the Marquis takes his guest to an asylum where the situation is unstable, at best…

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D/S Jan Svankmajer P Jaromir Kallista WS Athanor L Czech w/English Subtitles TD 35mm/2005/121mins Jan Svankmajer was born in Prague, Czech Republic in 1934 his films include Faust (1994), Conspirators of Pleasure (1996) and Little Otik (2000).