Réalisation:
Jan NěmecPhotographie:
Jiří MaxaActeurs·trices:
Zuzana Stivínová, Jan Budař, Tobiáš Jirous, Marek Bouda, Toyen (i.a.), Jindřich Štyrský (i.a.), Jindřich Heisler (i.a.)Résumés(1)
A most undefinable and hallucinatory work by Němec, in which he dives into the visionary world of the Czech painter and leading light of both Czech and French surrealism Marie Čermínová (1902-1980). An avant-garde personality, she also challenged the traditional gender roles, taking the enigmatic gender-free name Toyen and becoming one of the few female faces of the surrealist movement. Following her aesthetic principles, Němec radically breaks with the conventions of biopic and with the retro genre as well. Fully aware that any artist biopic would always be a poor illustration of a character's life, as any true artist is unapproachable, he instead makes a kaleidoscope of different images, related and unrelated to reality at once. Archival fragments, re-enactments, Čermínová's paintings and her poetic works, as well as other materials and textures converge and diffuse in this ghostly film which, in the words of Toyen, could have been called "Splinters of Dreams" or even "Silence and Darkness". (International Film Festival Rotterdam)
(plus)Critiques (3)
An excellent subject drowned in the mannerisms of a supposed enfant terrible (another, unfortunately) and Tereza Brdečková. Nevertheless, this can be considered as a film with feeling, which opens up the Toyen theme for the next generation and awaits a serious biography. I regret that this Němec work is practically unavailable and can only be seen very rarely - but then again, it really isn’t all that great.
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Aller voir Toyen après un dîner très copieux n’est vraiment, mais vraiment, pas une bonne idée ! Sous l’influence d’une multitude d’événements, d’expériences, de pensées et de sentiments, je n’ai pas réussi à bien me concentrer ni à apprécier correctement ce film artistique. Heureusement, on ne peut pas vraiment parler d’une quelconque intrigue, mais plutôt d’une succession d’images, de poèmes et de réflexions. Jan Němec est décidément l’un des réalisateurs les plus étranges !
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I like to watch artsy movies when I'm in the right mood, but there was just too much art here. I admit that from the artistic point of view this is a very well-made piece, but the value of the movie is very questionable. I wanted to learn something interesting about the painter Toyen, but unfortunately there was only sporadic information about her life. (45%)
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