Faust (Lekce faust), Czech Republic, 1994

This is a very good example of surrealism in stop motion animation. Director Jan Svankmajer combines real life actors with puppets to create a mystical world that is between real life and imagination. The movie begins with real actors. A man finds an abandonded theater with the help of a written map given to him by some strangers in the street. Once inside this abandonded place, puppets in the form of devils and angels appear out of nowhere. The story of "Faust" begins to play on its own, and this man becomes the character of Faust. He plays along, and Svankmajer's world starts to emerge. The dialog is almost poetical, like the original novel written by Goethe, and the scenes are disturbing (like the baby with a skeleton head, see photo) and funny at the same time. His best achievement is the combination of real actors and puppets.

Svankmajer's actors like to explore, they open doors and secret passages that take us to different places throughout the film. One of my hypothesis of surrealism (the use of keys) was proved when the main character finds an old doorkey hidden in his meal!