The Puppet Master: The Films of Jiří Trnka!

THE GOOD SOLDIER SVEJK, PARTS I-III + CYBERNETIC GRANDMA

THE GOOD SOLDIER SVEJK, PARTS I-III (Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka I.-III.)
Run Time: 74 Minutes

Adapted from the scathingly funny, hugely influential anti-war classic by anarchist writer Jaroslav Hašek, this three-part satirical farce charts the exploits of the eponymous World War I infantryman, whose antic misadventures continually frustrate his commanding officers — and reveal the absurdity of the entire conflict. Basing his designs on the novel’s original, celebrated illustrations by Josef Lada, Trnka mixes his trademark puppetry with striking cut-out animation sequences to accompany the droll, rambling tales that Švejk spins. The result is a subversive anti-authoritarian statement that captures the novel’s biting wit and irreverent spirit. In Czech with English subtitles.

— preceded by —

CYBERNETIC GRANDMA (Kybernetická babička)
Run Time: 28 Minutes

Trnka took a turn into Space Age sci-fi surrealism with this dark, dystopian satire on automation in which a child traverses a forbidding technological wasteland to meet (surprise!) her uncanny new robotic grandmother.