Little Otik
Encyclopedia
Little Otik also known as Greedy Guts, is a 2000 Czech film by Jan Švankmajer
and Eva Švankmajerová
. Based on the folktale "Otesánek" by K J Erben
, the film is a comedic live action, stop motion
-animated feature film set mainly in an apartment building in the Czech Republic.
The film uses the Overture to Der Freischutz
by Carl Maria von Weber
as the score for the movie.
Otík comes alive and has an insatiable appetite. Alžbětka (Kristina Adamcová), the neighbor's daughter, has been suspicious all along, and when she reads the fairy tale about Otesánek, the truth becomes clear to her. Meanwhile little Otík has been just eating and growing. At one point he eats some of Božena's hair, and another day she returns home to find that Otík has eaten their cat. Karel and his wife are at odds with Karel pushing for killing the thing and Božena defending it as their child. The baby later consumes a postal worker (Gustav Vondráček) and then a social worker (Jitka Smutná).
The resulting deaths lead Karel to tie up and lock Otík away in the basement of their apartment building, leaving Otík to starve. Alžbětka secretly takes over as prime caretaker. She tries to keep Otík fed with normal human food, but, when her mother stops her, she is forced to drawing straws
(matches in this case) to choose a person to feed to Otík. The first victim is an old man and pedophile, Mr. Žlábek (Zdeněk Kozák), and the second victim is Karel himself, who had come with a chainsaw but on seeing Otík calls him "son" and drops the chainsaw. Afterwards, Božena goes into the basement and is heard screaming. In the end, Otík disobeys Alžbětka despite repeated warnings and eats the cabbage patch of the paní správcová (Dagmar Stříbrná), meaning porter's wife or an old woman.
Little Otik was placed at 95 on Slant Magazine
's best films of the 2000s.
Jan Švankmajer
Jan Švankmajer is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several media. He is a self-labeled surrealist known for his surreal animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, the Brothers Quay, and many others.- Life and career :Jan...
and Eva Švankmajerová
Eva Švankmajerová
Eva Švankmajerová was a Czech surrealist artist. She was born Eva Dvořáková. A native of the Czech town of Kostelec nad Černými lesy, she moved to Prague in 1958 to study at the Prague School of Interior Design and later the Academy of Performing Arts...
. Based on the folktale "Otesánek" by K J Erben
Karel Jaromír Erben
Karel Jaromír Erben was a Czech historian, poet and writer of the mid-19th century, best known for his collection Kytice , which contains poems based on traditional and folkloric themes....
, the film is a comedic live action, stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
-animated feature film set mainly in an apartment building in the Czech Republic.
The film uses the Overture to Der Freischutz
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
by Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
as the score for the movie.
Plot
Karel Horák (Jan Hartl) and Božena Horáková (Veronika Žilková) are a childless couple and for medical reasons are doomed to remain so. While on vacation with their neighbors at a house in the country, Karel decides to buy the house at the suggestion of his neighbor. When he is fixing up the house, he digs up a tree stump that looks vaguely like a baby. He spends the rest of the evening cleaning it up and then presents it to his wife. She names the stump Otík and starts to treat it like a real baby. She then works out a plan to fake her pregnancy and becoming more and more impatient she speeds up the process and 'gives birth' one month early.Otík comes alive and has an insatiable appetite. Alžbětka (Kristina Adamcová), the neighbor's daughter, has been suspicious all along, and when she reads the fairy tale about Otesánek, the truth becomes clear to her. Meanwhile little Otík has been just eating and growing. At one point he eats some of Božena's hair, and another day she returns home to find that Otík has eaten their cat. Karel and his wife are at odds with Karel pushing for killing the thing and Božena defending it as their child. The baby later consumes a postal worker (Gustav Vondráček) and then a social worker (Jitka Smutná).
The resulting deaths lead Karel to tie up and lock Otík away in the basement of their apartment building, leaving Otík to starve. Alžbětka secretly takes over as prime caretaker. She tries to keep Otík fed with normal human food, but, when her mother stops her, she is forced to drawing straws
Drawing straws
Drawing straws is a selection method that is used by a group to choose one member of the group to perform a task after none has volunteered for it...
(matches in this case) to choose a person to feed to Otík. The first victim is an old man and pedophile, Mr. Žlábek (Zdeněk Kozák), and the second victim is Karel himself, who had come with a chainsaw but on seeing Otík calls him "son" and drops the chainsaw. Afterwards, Božena goes into the basement and is heard screaming. In the end, Otík disobeys Alžbětka despite repeated warnings and eats the cabbage patch of the paní správcová (Dagmar Stříbrná), meaning porter's wife or an old woman.
Ending
In the fairy tale upon which the movie is based, the old woman kills Otesanek by splitting his stomach open with a hoe, however, the film ends with her descending the stairs; the audience is not allowed to witness the deed.Cast
- Veronika ZilkovaVeronika ŽilkováVeronika Žilková is a Czech actress.She played the part of Božena Horáková in the 2000 Czech film, Little Otik also known as Otesánek. In 1997 she received the Czech Lion Award as the best supporting actress for her role in Zapomenuté světlo .- References :...
as Bozena Horáková - Jan HartlJan HartlJan Hartl is a Czech actor who played Karel Horák in the 2000 Czech film Little Otik also known as Otesánek. He was born in Prague, Czech Republic. Hartl is a member of the National Theatre in Prague.-External links:*...
as Karel Horák - Kristina Adamcová as Alzbetka
- Jaroslava Kretschmerová as Alzbetka's Mother
- Pavel Nový as Alzbetka's Father
- Dagmar Stríbrná as Pani spravcova (the caretaker)
- Zdenek Kozák as Mr. Zlabek
- Gustav Vondracek as Mladek, the postman
- Jitka Smutná as Bulankova, the social worker
Reception
The film is critically acclaimed with multiple awards, and it is certified fresh at the film news/reviews website rottentomatoes.com. The Czech Critics Awards named it the best feature film. It won three Czech lions for best art direction (Jan Švankmajer and Eva Švankmajerová), best film, best film poster (Eva Svankmajerová), as well as the Czech Critics Awards. It was nominated for best actress, best costumes, best director, best screenplay, best sound, and best supporting actress. It also won two awards at the Plzn film festival.Little Otik was placed at 95 on Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
's best films of the 2000s.