Here’s a psychoanalytical comedy of fascinating inventiveness where live action combines with cut-out animation of still photographs to offer a satirical and surrealist take on the weight dreams have on real life. The film dwells on the romantic exploits of Eugene (Helsus), a married middle aged office worker, to whom dreams have become fused with the existence in daily life. Eugene leads a tedious life and the contrast this has with the exciting vivacity of his dreams makes him seek the assistance of a psychoanalyst who speculates on the interpretation and significance of his dreams. This fuels rivalry between the animated portraits of Freud and Jung which hang in frames in the consultation room and add to the mocking of psychiatric practice in a most hilarious manner.

In Surviving Life, Svankmajer tones down his habitual black humour but resorts, nevertheless, to his usual dazzling techniques and means of expression, steering away from literality, using a combination of stop motion animation with live action, creating hybrid creatures (a hen’s head on a woman’s body, a dog’s head on a man’s body) and making the kind of carefree sexual references so prevalent in Eastern European cinema. As a further treat, the director does a brilliant cameo at the start of the film. This is the 5th feature length film in a career that spans 40 years during which Svankmajer’s ability to bring objects to life in a nightmarish yet funny way turned him into a world-renowned author of surreal film features and animations – among them are Alice (1988) and Dimensions of Dialogue (1983).

It won the 2011 Czech Lion for Best Art Direction alongside getting a nomination for Best Director.

“The style is often close to vintage Terry Gilliam.” Philip French, The Observer

“This manages to be Svankmajer’s most poignant and fully-formed feature to date.” David Jenkins, Time Out

“Svankmajer’s most accessible offering to date, deftly combining unpredictable visual invention with an underlying astute analysis of the meanings behind our desires”. Irish Film Institute

“an interesting and subversive comic fantasy reminiscent of the work of Terry Gilliam … 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.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian