''Don Juan'' ( cs, Don Šajn) is a 1969 Czechoslovak short film by

Jan Švankmajer Jan Švankmajer (; born 4 September 1934) is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several media. He is a self-labeled surrealist known for his stop-motion animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Ter ...

, based on traditional Czech puppet plays of the

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, ''El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...

legend.

Plot

Within an old dilapidated and seemingly automated theater, human-sized

marionettes A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed ...

perform a production of the Don Juan legend without the aid of

puppeteers A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...

or an audience. In the play, Don Juan's

fiancée An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

Maria is secretly seeing his brother Don Phillipe. Unbeknownst to the two lovers, Don Juan is watching them from one of the balconies. Horrified by the thought of Maria leaving him for Philippe, he calls upon his Jester servant for help. So that he can pay for a wedding, Juan sends the Fool into town to ask for money from the Mayor (Juan and Phillipe's father), under the false pretense that Juan needs the money to pay off medical bills. When Juan's father learns about his son's true intentions, he gives the Jester two coins so he and Juan can buy some rope to hang themselves with. Outraged by this, Don Juan murders his own father backstage and heads over to the garden where Maria and Philippe were planning to meet. Maria arrives shortly after, but is shocked to discover Don Juan there instead of her true love — Philippe. Demanding that she return his feelings or face the consequences, he chases after Maria but is stopped by her father, Don Vespis, who now realizes Juan is unfit to marry his daughter and threatens to have him arrested. Don Juan dispatches of Maria's father by cutting his face off, and as he lay dying, he swears his ghost will haunt Don Juan to exact his revenge. Philippe soon discovers Maria mourning her dead father, and swears to avenge them both. He eventually finds Don Juan and the two engage in a duel which ends with Philippe's gory demise. The Jester then arrives to tell Juan that there is a spectral man who wants to speak with him in the

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

. The man turns out to be the spirit of Maria's dead father, who warns Don Juan that his soul will be dragged to Hell at midnight. As in the traditional Czech puppet plays, Juan urges children not to commit evil deeds like him. Juan's physical body keels over dead into an open grave, while his spirit is lowered into a

trapdoor A trapdoor is a sliding or hinged door in a floor or ceiling. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has grown over time. The trapdoor has played a pivot ...

. Instead of being dragged into Hell as the legend suggests, the lifeless puppet merely falls into a compartment beneath the stage. Upon discovering an inanimate Don Juan, The Jester asks how he is going to get paid with his master dead.

References

External links

* *
Michael O'Pray's analysis
1969 animated films 1969 films 1960s animated short films Czechoslovak animated short films Films directed by Jan Švankmajer Puppet films Films based on the Don Juan legend Czech animated short films Surrealist films 1960s Czech films {{1960s-short-animation-film-stub