Lunacy (2005)

67% of critics liked it
(33 reviews)
82% of users liked it
(3,441 ratings)

A man who fears he's edging into madness gets a fresh perspective on what insanity really means in this frantic, visually inventive black comedy from Czech auteur Jan Svankmajer. Jean (Pavel Liska) is a deeply troubled man who has been haunted by violent hallucinations since the death of his mother,… More A man who fears he's edging into madness gets a fresh perspective on what insanity really means in this frantic, visually inventive black comedy from Czech auteur Jan Svankmajer. Jean (Pavel Liska) is a deeply troubled man who has been haunted by violent hallucinations since the death of his mother, who was committed to a mental institution when she passed on. While arranging his mother's funeral, Jean meets a fellow inmate who claims to be the Marquis de Sade (Jan Triska), and lives as if he's in 18th Century France rather than the Czech Republic in 2005. Jean strikes up an alliance with de Sade, though they can hardly be called friends, and after becoming an unwilling accomplice to de Sade's debauchery, Jean joins him at a hospital run by Dr. Murlloppe (Jaroslav Dusek), who offers "Purgative Therapy" for people who aren't mad but could be in the future. Jean falls for a beautiful nurse named Charlota (Anna Geislerova) who claims she's being held at the hospital against her will; in time, Jean hatches a plan to liberate her and the inmates, though he learns the truth is even more disturbing than he's been led to believe. Punctuated by animated tableaux in which raw meat scampers about the screen through the magic of stop-motion animation, Lunacy (aka Sileni) was inspired in part by the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe as well as the writings of de Sade, which are quoted liberally in the film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: G, 1 hr. 58 min.
Directed By: Jan Svankmajer
Genres: Art House & International, Documentary, Drama, Horror, Special Interest

In Theaters: May 1, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Feb 20, 2007
Studio: Zeitgeist

Critic Reviews

Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times
A horse-drawn carriage crossing an expressway overpass promises a more subversive ride than Svankmajer delivers.
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
While Lunacy leaves you with the impression that Svankmajer is more expressive with cutlets than he is with his atypically human-dominated dreamscape, some of the images are doozies.
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.
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle
Fans of movies about inmates who take over an asylum -- King of Hearts and Marat/Sade are prime examples -- will be amused by this surrealistic take on the subject punctuated by animated interludes featuring, of all things, dancing meat.
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times
For all its visual surprises and visceral shocks, Lunacy is still the kind of film that is easier to admire than it is to actually like.
J. Hoberman, Village Voice
Connoisseurs of the disgustingly visceral will find Jan Svankmajer hardly mellowed at 72. Lunacy is dark, scary, and yucky -- even by the Czech animator's own standards.
Christopher Campbell, Cinematical
Wickedly funny and astonishingly conceived, the film is a nonstop cavalcade of shocks, surprises and enchantments. I loved every minute of it.
Anton Bitel, Eye for Film
By turns absurdly funny, disturbingly dissolute, unnervingly claustrophobic, and caustically misanthropic, Lunacy offers viewers the sort of punishing pleasures that so many of its characters seem, in their different ways, to seek.
Rex Roberts, Film Journal International
Svankmajer continues to push at the boundaries of convention, juxtaposing blasphemy and torture while mocking the possibility of transcendence.
Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times
This is one of those deliriously unhinged movies that looks, feels and sounds genuinely insane, for all the right artistic reasons.
Bill White, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The definition of liberation as the act of being delivered from the hands of one lunatic into the hands of another who is equally mad remains universal in its political and social applications.
Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune
For all the arresting visuals, Svankmajer's morose depiction of the blurry line between madness and sanity is surprisingly pedestrian.
Laura Kelly, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Yes, the film's undeniable horror lies in the lunacy of filmmaking, not the story.

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Greg S

A mentally unstable man meets a modern day Marquis de Sade who holds blasphemous rituals in his basement and convinces his guest to commit himself to an insane asylum run by the inmates. In between scenes we see clips of steaks and disembodied tongues slithering about. It's… More
A mentally unstable man meets a modern day Marquis de Sade who holds blasphemous rituals in his basement and convinces his guest to commit himself to an insane asylum run by the inmates. In between scenes we see clips of steaks and disembodied tongues slithering about. It's bizarre, but not the strangest from surrealist animator Svankmejer; if you squint hard, it even looks like an ordinary horror movie. The tag line says it best: "Edgar Allen Poe + the Marquis de Sade + Jan Svankmejer = Lunacy."
vieras e

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.

Cast

            Pavel Liska as Jean Berlot

            Jan Triska as The Marquis

            Anna Geislerová as Charlota

            Jaroslav Dusek as Dr. Murlloppe

            Martin Huba as Dr. Coulmiere

            Pavel Nový as Dominik

            Stano Danciak as Inkeeper

            Jiri Krytinar as Eloquent Inmate

            Katerina Ruzicková as Asylum Inmate

            Iva Littmanová as Asylum Inmate

            Katerina Valachová as Asylum Inmate

            Josef Kaspar as Erotomaniac Inmate

            Helena Anysová as Cast Member

            Miroslav Navratil as Cast Member

            Jiri M. Sieber as Cast Member

            Ctirad Gotz as Houseman

            Michael Hoffbauer as Houseman

            Karel Herman as Houseman

            Renata Sátková as Art Therapist

            Vladimír Míka as Doctor

            Milan Borovicka as Doctor

            Lubos Doksansky as Doctor

            Vladimír Hodr as Doctor

            Josef Polasek as Inmate on Trolley

            Hana Dvoráková as Miss Rossetová

            Vaclav Jezek as Homeless Man

            Milan David as Homeless Man

            Frantisek Polata as Homeless Man

            Jirina Kutilová as Homeless Man

            Rostislav Sinci as Corpse

            Certík as The Goat

            Pavel Davídel
            
            Karel Kulhavy
            
            Jaroslav Dvorák
            
            Antonín Polácek
            
            Karel Strnad
            
            Lucie Brezovská
            
            Marie Najmanová
            
            Josef Rychetsky
            
            Jirí Zizala
            
            Josef Masaryk
            
            Josef Vána
            
            Josef Podlaha
            
            Josef Kanda
            
            Petr Sten
            
            Jirí Hájek
            
            Frantisek Rébl
            
            Martina Frycová
            
            Milan Kulhavy
            
            Evzen Schulz
            
            Helena Sinclová
            
            Pavel Cuba
            
            Vera Králová
            
            Petr Andrejtschitsch
            
            Jirí Kaisler
            
            Miroslava Drábková
            
            Mariana Hasíková
            
            Miroslava Hanzlová
            
            Anna Hrobská
            
            Helena Hulicková
            
            Lenka Slovíková
            
            Jana Vildungová
            
            Tomás Belohlávek
            
            Jirí Síma
            
            Eva Pokorná
            
            Vicka Ganceva
            
            Cestmír Kroupa
            
            Jan Pecka
            
            Karel Davídek
            
            Václav Stein
            
            Petr Bruna
            
            Karel Svoboda
            
            Jaromír Suchy
            
            Jaroslav Simandl
            
            Frantisek Holan
            
            Stanislav Fort
            
            Pavel Vorlát
            
            Jirí Javurec
            
            Karel Malecek
            
            Jaroslav Hlozek
            
            Anna Czihofská
            
            Vaclav Hanus
            
See full cast

Lunacy (2005)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Greg S

vieras e

Cast

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