Mix two parts Edgar Allan Poe, one part Marquis de Sade, and lots of animated meat, and you have the inspiration for Czech surrealist Svankmajer's third live action feature film, an allegory for our crazy world, in which the lunatics take over the asylum. "Svankmajer himself appears at the beginning of Lunacy to decry the entire process as a degenerate, infantile work of horror, rather than a work of art...but he underestimates its artfulness. His nihilistic story isn't for everyone, but he skillfully manages its disturbing execution in ways no one else could, and he brings it across in a darkly comedic way that encourages simultaneous laughter, horror, and thought. If that isn't art, what is?" (Tasha Robinson, A.V. Club) "One of the best films of the year." (Salon.com) more at zeitgeistfilms.com
2005, color, 1 hour 58 minutes, Czech Republic