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Pavel Liska, Jan Triska, Anna Geislerová

"Lunacy" is loosely based on two short stories by Edgar Allen Poe and inspired by the works of the Marquis de Sade. In 19th-century France, a young man, Jean Berlot, is plagued by nightmares in which ...( read more  read more... )he is dragged off to a madhouse. On the journey back from his mother's funeral, he is invited by a Marquis he meets at lunch to spend the night in his castle. There Berlot witnesses a blasphemous orgy and a "therapeutic" funeral. Berlot tries to flee but the Marquis insists on helping him conquer his fears and takes his guest to a surrealistic lunatic asylum where the patients have complete freedom and the staff are locked up behind bars.

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84% liked it

2,907 ratings

Critics

67% liked it

33 critics

G, 1 hr. 58 min.

Directed by: Jan Svankmajer

Release Date: May 1, 2006

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DVD Release Date: February 20, 2007

Stats: 184 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (184)

  • vierasesine
    October 29, 2006
    vierasesine
    If you're not familiar with Svankmajer's unique style of finding the endearing in the disgusting, nor grown accustomed to his meat puppets or skeletal animals, you might find this movie somewhat aversive at first - hopefully only to discover its brilliance in the end.
  • kzhope
    November 8, 2009
    kzhope
    Siendo un admirador del cine surreal y habiendo disfrutado del trabajo del director checo Jan Svankmajer no esperaba algo realmente diferente al ver Sileni, película checa del 2005 en la que Svankmajer homenajea tanto a Edgar Allan Poe como al Marqués de Sade; sobra decir ...( read more)que mi prejuicio era un gran error.

    Jean Barlot es un hombre solitario y atormentado por un miedo obsesivo a perder la razón que viaja al campo debido a la muerte de su madre, una enferma mental. El joven se hospeda en una posada, donde durante la noche tiene el sueño recurrente en el que es amarrado con una camisa de fuerza; Berlot, desesperado, destruye su cuarto en la posada ante la mirada atónita del posadero y de los demás inquilinos.

    Por la mañana un misterioso Marqués paga los daños ocasionados a la habitación y por una extraña sucesión de acontecimientos termina hospedándolo en su casa, donde Berlot atestiguará la más blasfema de las misas negras (escena realmente sorprendente, que lleva el surrealismo al límite con lo grotesco) asustado por el descubrimiento; Berlot cuestiona a su anfitrión por sus herejías, el marqués responde entonces con un discurso sumamente interesante que resume las bases del nihilismo visto como una crítica extrema a la religión; tras la cual el noble aparentemente muere asfixiado, por lo que tanto Berlot como el sirviente mudo del Marqués sepultan al difunto en su cripta familiar y montan guardia en el cementerio, solo para ver al Marqués vivo en la mañana.

    Berlot se entera entonces del tratamiento psiquiátrico del Marqués, y tras sufrir otro ataque de histeria, el invitado accede a conocer al psiquiatra amigo de su anfitrión en su manicomio.
    La escena del manicomio del Dr. Murlloppe es uno de los cuadros más absurdos jamás filmados, con las gallinas como símbolo principal de una locura expresada tanto por los pacientes como por el excéntrico director.

    Es en ese ambiente bizarro, el manicomio gobernado por los locos, que Berlot se enamora de una joven enfermera llamada Charlotte (que vió por primera vez en la ceremonia satánica del marqués), Charlotte le dice que el manicomio actual es consecuencia de un motín por parte de los pacientes y que el verdadero director del hospital y sus empleados están encerrados en el sótano desde hace un año.

    Es entonces que Charlotte consigue sacar del hospital a Murlloppe y al Marqués, tiempo que Berlot utiliza para liberar a los doctores cautivos, los cuales terminana a golpes con la libertad de los pacientes y toman control del hospital capturando a los hombres resonsables de la locura (Murlloppe y el Marqués).

    Berlot poco a poco descubre que los métodos del Dr. Coulmiere, el nuevo y cristiano director del manicomio, consisten en castigo físico aplicado progresivamente para "sanar" las enfermedades mentales, descubre también que su enamorada y el director son fanáticos de las parafilias, y que los cuerdos que lo salvaron de los locos están igual de locos.

    La conclusión de la película es atormentadora; no importa nada, ni la ideología, ni la libertad, ni la razón todo nos lleva a la misma locura y tal vez el único escape es la total insania.

    Una película visualmente grotesca y que permanece fiel al estilo gráfico de Svankmajer, es densa y el absurdo es un recurso tentador pero Svankmajer logra llevar el mensaje al espectador perfectamente sin abusar de los elementos surreales, no alcanza ni visualmente ni en simbolismo a Neco z Alenky pero logra llevar la reflexión en una historia bien narrada sin perder con ello su estilo característico.
    A pesar de ser cansada y por momentos lenta, Sileni es una película satisfactoria en todos los sentidos aunque, como cualquier cosa inspirada por Sade, no es apta para muchas personas.

    *****
  • bbliumis
    February 2, 2009
    bbliumis
    thats a f.... weird film!!!

    soooooo weird
  • QueenBoudica
    October 20, 2008
    QueenBoudica
    Looks and sounds odd.
  • felixordet
    September 18, 2008
    felixordet
    La lucidità sadiana nei racconti di Poe!!
  • mikezillatron
    March 23, 2008
    mikezillatron
    Really strange and wonderful!
  • FlyingSolo2009
    February 4, 2008
    FlyingSolo2009
    Looks just a little to weird for me.
  • anutjami
    October 5, 2007
    anutjami
    This film is incredible! The stop motion animation is the best I have ever seen. A true piece of art. Watch it now!
  • jordan124
    August 23, 2007
    jordan124
    I enjoyed it rather a lot for the first half hour or so. Even the 5.1 mixing was surreal, with the back speakers often used to project unrelated environmental sounds; meanwhile the anachronistic and non-sequential nature of the visuals seemed so simple, I couldn't believe I hadn'...( read more)t seen this done before - thinking about it now, I probably have, but I hadn't seen it done so well, so seamlessly before - so seamlessly that it took most of the length for me realise exactly what was so strange about the way the Marquis de Sade ate his bananas. But even this failed to sustain itself; there was a very shiny and un-Svankmajer-ish torch, and after the chocolate cake and the puppet theatre there was nothing much of any visual interest - all we are left with is the story, which was never interesting or exciting. Calming that it is merely a horror film, and not a work of art, should theoretically make it immune to criticism - but I'd suggest that Svankmajer is more suited to art than horror, as this is far more depressing than scary, and only the puppet theatre and a few other images are shocking in their inventiveness. The most disappointing element was the ending, which had practically already happened 20 minutes ago and could be seen coming even before then.
  • ranniesan
    June 13, 2007
    ranniesan
    Jan Svankmajer is the best!

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Critic Reviews

September 8, 2006
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

At nearly two hours Lunacy becomes repetitive, at first ingeniously and then with a slowly dulling edge. The meat parade ceases to shock. full review

View more Lunacy reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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Lunacy Trivia

  • From which movie does this quote come from: "I put no stock ibn religion. By the word religion, i've seen the lunacy of fanatics of every Denomination be called 'the will of God'. Holiness is in the right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves."   Answer »
  • From which movie does this quote come from? "i put no stock in religion. By the word religion, Ive seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called 'the will of god'. Holiness is in the right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves"?  Answer »
  • "It's obscene, all the violence, all the lunacy. Shootings even at airports now. You might say that we're the next endangered species. Human beings." "I think you're right, ma'am. I think you've hit the nail on the head." "Jones is my name. I'm in insurance."  Answer »
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