Lunacy (2006)
67 %
Reviews Counted: 33 Fresh: 22 Rotten:11 Average Rating: 6.4/10
Consensus:
A Svankmajer movie is not for everyone, but he displays his usual creative flair for surreal imagery.
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Theatrical Release: Aug 9, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: The latest provocation from surrealist master Jan Svankmajer (LITTLE OTIK) is loosely based on two short stories by Edgar Allen Poe and inspired by the works of the Marquis de Sade. In nineteenth-century France (albeit one full of deliberate anachronisms) a young man, Jean Berlot, is... [More]
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Starring: Jan Triska, Ana Geislerová, Jaroslav Dusek, Jiri Krytinar, Pavel Liska
Director: Jan Svankmajer
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Wickedly funny and astonishingly conceived, the film is a nonstop cavalcade of shocks, surprises and enchantments. I loved every minute of it.
Comment
09/18/07
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.
06/12/07
Click to read the article
06/05/07
Top CriticClick to read the article
06/02/07
Top CriticClick to read the article
05/31/07
Top CriticClick to read the article
04/16/07
Top CriticClick to read the article
03/17/07
Top CriticClick to read the article
03/17/07
Top CriticClick to read the article
03/17/07
Top Critic
Svankmajer continues to push at the boundaries of convention, juxtaposing blasphemy and torture while mocking the possibility of transcendence.
02/22/07
A horse-drawn carriage crossing an expressway overpass promises a more subversive ride than Svankmajer delivers.
10/27/06
Top Critic
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.
10/26/06
Top Critic
This is one of those deliriously unhinged movies that looks, feels and sounds genuinely insane, for all the right artistic reasons.
10/13/06
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.
10/12/06
For all the arresting visuals, Svankmajer's morose depiction of the blurry line between madness and sanity is surprisingly pedestrian.
09/29/06
At nearly two hours Lunacy becomes repetitive, at first ingeniously and then with a slowly dulling edge. The meat parade ceases to shock.
09/08/06
Top Critic
Yes, the film's undeniable horror lies in the lunacy of filmmaking, not the story.
09/07/06
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.
08/25/06
Top CriticRelated Forums
(Oscar Watch)- Jan Svankmajer's LUNACY gets the Czech nod for Best Foreign film!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/30/06
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/30/06
(Oscar Watch)- Jan Svankmajer's LUNACY gets the Czech nod for Best Foreign film!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/30/06
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/30/06
(Oscar Watch)- Jan Svankmajer's LUNACY gets the Czech nod for Best Foreign film!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/30/06
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/30/06
(Oscar Watch)- Jan Svankmajer's LUNACY gets the Czech nod for Best Foreign film!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/30/06
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/30/06
News
Critical Consensus: A Brave New "World," A "Step" Down, And No Screenings for "Pulse" and "Zoom"
posted by Tim Ryan August 09, 2006
This week at the movies, we've got Oliver Stone paying tribute to the heroes of 9/11 ("World Trade Center,"...
posted by Tim Ryan August 09, 2006
This week at the movies, we've got Oliver Stone paying tribute to the heroes of 9/11 ("World Trade Center,"...
IGN RSS Feeds