''Surviving Life'' ( cs, Přežít svůj život) is a 2010 Czech comedy 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 Terr ...

, starring Václav Helšus,

Klára Issová Klára Issová (born 26 April 1979), sometimes known as Klára Issa, is a Czech film, stage and television actress. In 1997, she won the Czech Lion Award for Best Supporting Actress in ''Nejasná zpráva o konci světa''. She is the cousin of a ...

and

Zuzana Kronerová Zuzana Kronerová (born 17 April 1952) is a Slovak film, television and stage actress. She has been featured in more than twenty films to date. Filmography ; Selected works * 1981: ''Infidelity in a Slovak Way'' (originally made-for-TV; as Zlat ...

. The film uses a mix of

cutout animation Cutout animation is a form of stop-motion animation using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or photographs. The props would be cut out and used as puppets for stop motion. The world's ea ...

from photographs and live-action segments, and tells the story of a married man who lives a double life in his dreams, where he meets another woman. It premiered out of competition at the

67th Venice International Film Festival The 67th annual Venice International Film Festival held in Venice, Italy, took place from 1 to 11 September 2010. American film director and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino was the head of the Jury. The opening film of the festival was Darren Aro ...

Cast

* Václav Helšus as Evžen and Milan *

as Evženie *

as Milada * Emília Došeková as

super-ego The id, ego, and super-ego are a set of three concepts in psychoanalytic theory describing distinct, interacting agents in the psychic apparatus (defined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche). The three agents are theoretical cons ...

* Daniela Bakerová as Dr. Holubová * Marcel Němec as colleague * Jan Počepický as antiquarian *

Jana Oľhová Jana Oľhová (born 31 December 1959) is a Slovak actress. At the 2008 Sun in a Net Awards she won the category of Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film ''Music''. Oľhová won another accolade at the Sun in a Net Awards, again ...

as prostitute *

Pavel Nový Pavel Nový (born 5 September 1948) is a Czech actor. He has appeared in more than one hundred films since 1962. Selected filmography References External links * 1948 births Living people Actors from Plzeň Czech male film actors ...

as janitor * Karel Brožek as boss * Miroslav Vrba as Fikejz

Production

The film was co-produced by Athanor and the Slovak company C-GA Film, with participation of

Česká televize Czech Television ( cs, Česká televize, italics=no ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting seven channels. Established after the Velvet Revolution in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslov ...

and UPP. It received eight million

korun Korun is masculine name or surname. According to some sources it has its origin in Turkish language. According to some other sources this masculine name is based on feminine name Korona. Alternative variant forms of names and surnames based on thi ...

from the Czech State Fund for Support and Development of Cinematography and around six million korun from

Eurimages Eurimages is a cultural support fund of the Council of Europe, established in 1989. Eurimages promotes independent filmmaking by providing financial support to feature-length fiction, animation, and documentary films. In doing so, it encourages c ...

. Additional support was granted by the

MEDIA Programme The MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe or simply Creative Europe MEDIA (formerly The MEDIA Programme of the European Union) is designed to support the European film and audiovisual industries. Budget The goal of programmers is to increase the ...

. The production involved a total budget of 35 million korun. Animation work was done by an international team at Švankmajer's studio in

Knovíz Knovíz () is a municipality and village in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. The Knovíz culture, an archeological culture of late Bronze Age, is named after this site. Geograph ...

, just outside Prague. The film uses

Alexander Glazunov Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov; ger, Glasunow (, 10 August 1865 – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 ...

's Concert Waltz No.1 in D,op 47 as opening and ending theme.

Release

''Surviving Life'' premiered on 7 September 2010 out of competition at the

. It was subsequently shown at several festivals including the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

. Bontonfilm released it in the Czech Republic on 4 November 2010.

Reception

Deborah Young of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called Švankmajer a "grand master not just of innovative animation techniques but of life itself", and wrote that the director "is at the height of his filmmaking powers as director, artistic director and storyteller here." Young also noted, however, that the film's complex narrative and unconventional imagery "will not be everyone's cup of tea." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

s Leslie Felperin complimented the chemistry between Helšus and Issová, and noted how the film was more similar to Czech mainstream comedies than what normally would be expected from the director: "For all the grotesquerie on display (and there's hardly anything here as disturbing as Svankmajer's imagery in '' Alice'' from 1988), pic feels much lighter in tone than the helmer's last few films, such as '' Lunacy'', '' Greedy Guts'' (aka ''Little Otik''), or '' Conspirators of Pleasure''." Švankmajer won the

Czech Lion The Czech Lion Awards ( cs, Český lev) are annual awards that recognize accomplishments in filmmaking and television. It is the highest award of achievement in film awarded in the Czech Republic. The jury is composed of members of the Czech Fi ...

for Best Art Direction for the film. It was also nominated for Best Director and Best Sound.

References

External links

*
Surviving Life
' at Bontonfilm's website * {{Jan Svankmajer 2010 films 2010 comedy films 2010 comedy horror films Animated comedy films Czech animated films 2010s Czech-language films Films directed by Jan Švankmajer Films with live action and animation Czech comedy horror films Works about psychoanalysis Czech Lion Awards winners (films) Sun in a Net Awards winners (films) Anifilm award winners Cultural depictions of Carl Jung Cultural depictions of Sigmund Freud Czech animated comedy films Czech adult animated films