Jiri Barta is a Czech animator who has made quite a few short films and a couple of features. By all accounts, his adaptation of the classic fairytale, The Pied Piper, is his best. After seeing a trailer (well, more like a couple of clips strung together) for it from the boutique label, Deaf Crocodile, I was sold. It looks very Jan Svenkmajer (another Czech), Brothers Quay, or 90s Tool video, and I’m a big fan of all of that animation weirdness. Obviously, I checked it out. Let’s get into it, shall we?
A town full of awful, awful people has grown decadent. The elites are greedy narcissists and everyone else is gluttonous and wasteful. Their wastefulness (and perhaps their sinfulness?) attracts rats in droves. The creatures steal gold, spoil food and wine, and wreak havoc. This will not do. Especially for the elites. When a tall stranger with a flute (recorder?) arrives claiming to be able to play a tune that will lure the rats to their deaths, the elites agree to pay him 1000 to do so (the currency denomination isn’t specified) . He walks through the town playing his instrument and the rodents come out of hiding to march behind him in a grotesque parade. While he does so, one of the elites (a jeweler) tries to force himself upon an innocent young woman – one of the only citizens not corrupted by sin. When the jeweler hears the playing, he too is temporarily drawn to follow and the woman is relieved of his advances. After the piper delivers on his promise and returns, the elites mock him and pay only a single button. Things don’t go so well for the townsfolk after that.
This is easily one of the greatest -if not the greatest – animated horror films ever. Some may argue that it’s not exactly horror, but it has murder and blood and grotesquery to spare, so I’m counting it. Barta has captured the shallowness of Hamlin’s citizens in amazingly detailed and uniquely animated bas relief. The nearly 2D establishing shots and buildings piled claustrophobically on top of one another reminds one of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligary, the epitome of German expressionist horror. Their harsh movement, angular features, and grating voices suit their antisocial actions perfectly. Much of the characters and sets look to be created from carved wood. If that’s the case, it only further adds to the impressive achievement of Barta and his team. And mixing stop motion with live action to further instill uneasiness is genius – especially with live rats scrambling over each other. (i’m just really hoping that the animals weren’t harmed during production, though they do obviously use taxidermied rats at some points) And, in one tender sequence, soft, pastel 2D animation shows us the heart of innocence and blossoming love. The film touches on these complex themes and conveys the plot clearly without any real dialogue (the characters screech at each other in gibberish). Despite this, the pacing and exposition are spot on. We understand quickly who the bad guys are (even if you’re unfamiliar with the old fairytale) and we are delighted to see them face comeuppance. The film is a triumph of artistic expression.
The Final Cut: Jiri Barta has crafted a perfect retelling of The Pied Piper with an incredible mix of animation styles. Horror fans have long known that original fairytales are horror stories and this film does not shy from that.
