The Hand

Original title: Ruka

19651965
18m

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

1.8K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

66,807

9,312

Animation Short Horror

A delicate and secluded ceramist sees his orderly life turn upside down, when a gigantic hand in a white glove invades his space, demanding that a sculpture of itself is made. When will the ... Read allA delicate and secluded ceramist sees his orderly life turn upside down, when a gigantic hand in a white glove invades his space, demanding that a sculpture of itself is made. When will the hand's obstinate demands stop?A delicate and secluded ceramist sees his orderly life turn upside down, when a gigantic hand in a white glove invades his space, demanding that a sculpture of itself is made. When will the hand's obstinate demands stop?

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

1.8K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

66,807

9,312

See more at IMDbPro

Director
- Jirí Trnka
Writer
- Jirí Trnka

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 nomination total

Trivia
Award : Best Animated Film Award at the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival (West Germany, 1966).

Connections
Edited into International Festival of Animation (1977)

User reviews12

Review

Top review

9/10

Brilliant nightmarish imagery

I saw this film when I was a young child on television (thank-you Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and had nightmares about it for years afterwards.

Trnka was one of the mentors for Bratislav Pojar, one of Canada's National Film Board's best animators. Pojar was, in turn a mentor and collaborator for the great Drouin. If you like Trnka you should see "Night Angel".

The symbolism is obvious, but deftly used. The oppositions of beauty and life (the plant) are placed in opposition with the anonymity of the gloved hand. The poor puppet hero is condemned despite a lack of political agenda.

What I most remembered was the feeling of oppression in the decor. The small room where the action takes place is the character's entire world. The invasion by the hand is a complete violation of that world.

Beautiful and haunting film. I found a copy of this and other wonderful shorts by Trnka at the public library and showed it to my own kids. A must see.

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