Dead Times (1965)
"Les temps morts" (original title)

What is man ? Man makes war, man kills man, man hunts, man is executed. A montage mixing original drawings by Topor, original shots and stock shots that ironically analyze what man is.

Director:

René Laloux

Writers:

René Laloux, Jacques Sternberg (text),

Stars:

Roland Dubillard

Cast

Credited cast:
Roland Dubillard	...	Récitant / Narrator (voice)

Storyline

What is man ? Man makes war, man kills man, man hunts, man is executed. A montage mixing original drawings by Topor, original shots and stock shots that ironically analyze what man is.

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Genres:

Animation | Short

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

June 1965 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Dead Times

Company Credits

Production Co:

Como Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

10 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

User Reviews

mankind's brutality, real deaths and surrealism, or something like that

A very strange film! Begins with a shot of a planet, followed by footage of Asian children playing in the streets with guns, and then footage of war. Then it switches to illustrations, black and white pen & ink drawings the camera moves over, people in various states of undress and dismemberment. Much of it is not animated, but some animation follows. Not entirely surreal, but somewhat. For example, a man rides a dead horse, the horse's front and hind legs being carried by two other men, following a man with a castle for hair. Back to actual footage, snorkelers fishing, riflery, bullfighting. More painterly style illustrations follow, men and women in the act of stabbing and shooting. More primitive animations, a woman in lingerie inhabiting a house made out of suitcases that each jail men's decapitated heads. Photographs of people being guillotined, hung, beheaded, electrocuted.

There's a French narrator, I wish I knew what he was saying!