Prezít svuj zivot (teorie a praxe) (Surviving Life (Theory and Practice))

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

92%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 12

79%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 273
User image

Tap to review this movie

  • User image

    Super Reviewer

    Rate this movie

    Oof, that was Rotten.

    Meh, it passed the time.

    It’s good – I’d recommend it.

    Awesome!

    So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

    What did you think of the movie? (optional)

  • You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

  • User image

    Super Reviewer

    Step 2 of 2

    How did you get your ticket?

    • Fandango

    • AMC (Coming Soon)

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Cinemark (Coming Soon)

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Regal (Coming Soon)

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Bought somewhere else

    By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

    You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

  • User image

    Super Reviewer

    Rate this movie

    Oof, that was Rotten.

    Meh, it passed the time.

    It’s good – I’d recommend it.

    Awesome!

    So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

    What did you think of the movie? (optional)

  • How did you get your ticket?

    • Fandango

    • AMC (Coming Soon)

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Cinemark (Coming Soon)

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Regal (Coming Soon)

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Bought somewhere else

    By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

Movie Info

Eugene, an aging man, leads a double life: one real - the waking life he spends in the company of his wife of many years, Milana - and the other in his dreams, his sleeping hours being devoted to a recurring evolving dream of a beautiful young woman, Evgenia. Seeking to perpetuate his dream life, he goes to see a psychoanalyst, who attempts to provide an ongoing interpretation of his experiences. On the wall there are portraits of Freud and Jung, which become animated, alternately applauding, disapproving or fighting over her interpretations. The latest film from practising surrealist animator Jan vankmajer is a mix of cut-out animation from photographs and live action segments, combining real actors with their animated photographs, against black and white backdrops of photographed Czech buildings. This stylistic approach which, Svankmajer jokes during the films introduction, was due to lack of funds and saved on catering, provides freedom for imaginative collages, and humorous nods in the direction of some of surrealism's familiar practitioners (Dalí, Ernst, Buñuel). Drawn directly from vankmajer's own dreams, the film is a complex, multilayered story about aging, love, sex, childhood, trauma and dreams, steeped in Freudian and Jungian analysis and injected with a healthy dose of perversity. As Eugene labors in different versions of reality, vankmajer's own deeply curious take on reality manifests in all its surrealist splendor.

Cast

Vaclav Helsus
Klára Issová
Zuzana Kronerová
Daniela Bakerova
Emilia Dosekova
Marcel Nemec
Jan Pocepický
View All

Critic Reviews for Prezít svuj zivot (teorie a praxe) (Surviving Life (Theory and Practice))

All Critics (12) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (11) | Rotten (1)

  • A hit-the-ground-dead Freudian romp about an office worker's dream life.

    Dec 8, 2011 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

    Nigel Andrews

    Financial Times
    Top Critic

  • The film interestingly and subversively takes its stand on the idea that dreams are the real thing; waking life is an exotic, strange tissue of unreal diversions.

    Dec 1, 2011 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Peter Bradshaw

    Guardian
    Top Critic

  • One of the most imaginative and visually arresting films of the year. Essential viewing.

    Dec 1, 2011 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

    Paul Weedon

    Little White Lies
    Top Critic

  • It harnesses the skewed workings of the subconscious, confirming Svankmajer as a master filmmaker and knocking films like 'Inception' and 'The Matrix' into a cocked hat.

    Nov 29, 2011 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

    David Jenkins

    Time Out
    Top Critic

  • Weird without being alienating, educated without being haughty and heartfelt without being (too) sentimental, "Surviving Life" is a psychoanalytically guided tour through the dreams of a distressed individual.

    Jan 14, 2020 | Full Review…

    Ard Vijn

    ScreenAnarchy

  • A psychoanalytical masterpiece.

    Dec 5, 2018 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

    Daniel Gumble

    CineVue
View All Critic Reviews (12)

Audience Reviews for Prezít svuj zivot (teorie a praxe) (Surviving Life (Theory and Practice))

There are no featured audience reviews for Prezít svuj zivot (teorie a praxe) (Surviving Life (Theory and Practice)) at this time.

See All Audience Reviews

Prezít svuj zivot (teorie a praxe) (Surviving Life (Theory and Practice)) Quotes

There are no approved quotes yet for this movie.

News & Features