Dimensions of Dialogue (1982)

Expected more

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

First of all, don't be scared that it says language Czech on the title page. There is no audible dialog and people from all countries and origins can effortlessly enjoy this short film. Or I should say "these short films" as you get three for the price of one.The first is the longest, but at the same time the sequence that interested me the least. It starts with two strange creatures going against each other, one consists of fruit, the other mostly of metal. I assume it's a symbolism of nature vs. technology. The figures merge and the final result spits out a new creation, which goes against the result of the merger and so it goes on and on... You could probably analyze for hours the way the creatures keep looking after their transformations, but you'd almost have to watch the film in slow-motion to really catch all the details and at some point it just felt repetitive to me. The speed, so much happening in so little time, reminded me a bit of the works of current animator PES, although the style is obviously completely different.The second appealed to me more. We see a male and a female creature falling in love and Svankmajer here depicts one of the most beautiful sequences of actual physical lovemaking I've ever seen in animation. Very well done. It's almost erotically stimulating. Unfortunately, the result separates the two and catastrophe ensues shortly afterward. The final part is a nice animated display of how communication works, how effortless things can be when you are on the same layers, but also how destructive the lack of congruence can be.

This is hands down one of the coolest and most impressive animated shorts I have ever seen. Divided into three parts, each is equally well made and absorbing. Aesthetically speaking, this was probably light years ahead of its time--a beautiful ancestor of filmmakers like Tim Burton. The messages can be hard to decipher but there is a good deal of political commentary here as well, especially the third one which speaks strongly and poignantly against Communism. Even if you don't quite know what each is saying (the first still confuses me) they are wonderful to simply watch. Beautiful and fluid. It's amazing that he was even able to get away with creating these shorts in Eastern Europe at the time without being killed by the government. If you have a chance, watch this movie. You will not regret it.

I have seen several films by Jan Svankmajer and while I must admit that I don't usually love his films, this one truly is amazing and not nearly as creepy as some. All this films are truly amazing and take stop-motion to an incredible (and creepy) level. For example, his version of Alice in Wonderland is so disturbing, I could see it making kids afraid to sleep at night! Here in MOZNOSTI DIALOGU, the images are still amazingly weird but fortunately the "creepy factor" is less and you are left feeling in awe over the time and effort to make each of the three segments of the film. All three are practically impossible to adequately summarize--especially given the space limits here on IMDb. So instead I'll just say that I have never seen a stop-motion film that was done as expertly or in such a fascinating way. All have a similar theme (communication), but it's easy to miss beneath all the weirdness. Suffice to say that you should just watch these amazing films and just absorb all the artistry and oddness for yourself.

We should all know by now that Czech animator Jan Svankmajer is the master of the weird (sorry, Terry Gilliam, but this guy beat you to the punch). With "Moznosti dialogu", he goes all out as food and utensils eat each other, clay figures have a most unusual experience kissing each other...more tricks follow.What's the point of all these images? Who knows. One could try to analyze it - and probably get a headache from doing so - but I'd say that the real point is to get enthralled. Either way, this short flick truly has Svankmajer written all over it. You could be deaf and the whole thing would still be fascinating. So definitely "Czech" it out.