Few filmmakers have earned themselves a reputation as the master of the surreal quite as deservedly as Jan Švankmajer, the Czechoslovakian artist who's influence has stretched from fellow animators the Brothers Quay to Terry Gilliam and beyond. Virtually his entire output deserves a place on a list of weirdness, but Little Otik is stands as one of his most memorable forays into feature films. Live action and stop motion are blended to tell the tale of a couple unable to have children of their own who uncover a tree stump which resembles a baby and decide to treat it as their own child. If that sounds like an odd premise for a movie, Little Otik does it full justice - as the child grows it reveals a ravenous appetite for human flesh. A subversive take on an old Czech folk tale, it's Švankmajer at his most pleasingly odd, confirming his status as "a mad genius of cinema".
