Street of Crocodiles
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| Street of Crocodiles | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Brothers Quay |
| Music by | Leszek Jankowski |
| Release date(s) | 1986 |
| Running time | 21 minutes |
Street of Crocodiles is a 21 minute long stop-motion animation short subject directed and produced by the Brothers Quay and released in 1986.
The Streets of Crocodiles was originally a book written by Bruno Schulz. Rather than literally representing the childhood memoirs of Schulz, the animators used the book's mood and psychological undertones as inspiration for their own creation.
[edit] Plot
A man closes up a lecture hall; he reaches into a box and snips the string holding a gaunt puppet. Released, the puppet warily explores the darkened rooms about him. The desolate ambiance and haunting musical score convey a sense of isolation and futility, forcing the viewer into immediate identification with the mute protagonist as he explores a realm of mechanical realities and manufactured pleasures. As the protagonist tries to conform, or is forced into assimilation, the film slowly reveals how unfulfilling the surroundings actually are. Life and vitality are gradually stripped away to reveal the passionless cycle of existence.
[edit] Themes
Although heavily metaphorical, the piece also exemplifies the experimental and curious nature of the Quays' work. Rather than examining the potential symbolism of such props as screws, dust, string, and wind-up monkeys, many shots seem to focus on the movements and inherent characteristics of the materials. Like most of their films, the Brothers Quay employ a more musically-grounded structure in place of a straight-forward literal narrative in Street of Crocodiles.
Terry Gilliam selected Street of Crocodiles as one of the top ten best animated films of all time. Critic Jonathan Romney went further still, voting it one of the ten best films of all time in the 2002 decennial critics' poll for Sight and Sound magazine.
[edit] Release Details
The film is available through two separate DVD/VHS releases. The first was produced in 2000 by the New York-based Kino on Video and released on NTSC DVD. Entitled The Brothers Quay Collection: Ten Astonishing Short Films 1984-1993, it is now out of print. The second edition was produced by the BFI in London and released in 2006. The two-disc set, entitled Quay Brothers - The Short Films 1979-2003, is currently only available on PAL DVD, but much of its content has been licensed to Zeitgeist Films in New York, who are bringing out their own NTSC DVD later in 2007. It should be noted that the BFI and Zeitgeist versions feature an optional audio commentary by the Quay Brothers, which was recorded in London in May 2006.
