Jan Svankmajer: film as puppet theatre

Jan Švankmajer’s use of the puppet as a bridge between live action and stop-motion animation dominate his feature films and shorts. The confusions and interactions between reality, the controlled puppet and the animated object express the idea that animation is not merely a special effect but a tangible metaphor for manipulation. Švankmajer’s interest in the occult arts reveal the underlying philosophy of cinema as an ultimately magical event.