Otesánek (2000)

A childless couple passes off an anthropomorphous tree stump as their baby, but things get out of hand when the thing comes to life and demands to be fed.

Director:

Jan Svankmajer

Writers:

Karel Jaromír Erben (fairy tale), Jan Svankmajer (screenplay)

Stars:

Veronika Zilková, Jan Hartl, Jaroslava Kretschmerová

6 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Veronika Zilková	...	Bozena Horáková
Jan Hartl	...	Karel Horák
Jaroslava Kretschmerová	...	Paní Stádlerová
Pavel Nový	...	Frantisek Stádler
Kristina Adamcová	...	Alzbetka
Dagmar Stríbrná	...	Pani správcová
Zdenek Kozák	...	Mr. Zlabek
Gustav Vondracek	...	Mladek, the postman
Arnost Goldflam	...	Gynaecologist
Jitka Smutná	...	Bulankova, the social worker
Jirí Lábus	...	Policeman at station
Radek Holub	...	Young postman
Jan Jirán	...	Karel's co-worker
Zdenek Palusga	...	Uniformed policeman
Frantisek Polata	...	Plainclothes policeman

Storyline

When a childless couple learn that they cannot have children, it causes great distress. To ease his wife's pain, the man finds a stump in the backyard and chops it and varnishes it into the shape of a child. However the woman takes the root as her baby and starts to pretend that it is real. When the root takes life they seem to have gained a child; but its appetite is much greater than that of a normal child.

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Plot Keywords:

folk horror | absurdism | based on folktale | killer child | monster baby | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally, Jan Svankmajer wanted to shoot this film in early nineties and considered to cast Woody Allen and Mia Farrow as Karel and Bozena.

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Quotes

Bozena: He's our child and we have to stick by him through thick and thin.

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Connections

References Flora (1989)

User Reviews

Quite good, but I wish Svankmajer would use more animation

Perhaps Jan Svankmajer is sick of the medium of stop-motion animation which first made him famous. Perhaps he's trying to move into pure filmmaking. And perhaps I shouldn't criticize him for that. He's actually an excellent live-action director as well, which Little Otik (in Czech "Otesanek," "Greedy Guts," the name of an Eastern European fairy tale from which the script is adapted) demonstrates. But I'm not sure he wants to leave stop-motion animation behind. It seems to me more like he wants to use it more often in the film, but he didn't have the money. If you're interested in Svankmajer's work, start with his short stop-motion films, then move to Alice, his version of Alice in Wonderland, and then move to this film and then Faust.

As for the film itself, it's imperfect. Its biggest problem is that it's overlong. There's really not enough meat in it (well, there's enough meat literally). It can move slowly, especially nearer the beginning. Also, the ending is a bit abrupt. Still, there're a lot of great scenes and set pieces. It can also be very funny. It's certainly the most humorous side of Jan Svankmajer that I've seen. 8/10.

Details

Country:

Czech Republic UK Japan

Language:

Czech

Release Date:

25 January 2001 (Czech Republic)

Also Known As:

Little Otik

Filming Locations:

Knovíz, Czech Republic

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$125,716

Company Credits

Production Co:

Athanor, Barrandov Biografia, FilmFour

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min 125 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1