Street of Crocodiles

Horrorphile

follow this blog

1043 followers

3405 daily readers

rank of 1

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

My BIRTHDAY and the STREET OF CROCODILES

December 20th 2007 01:11

Yes indeed, resident Orble Lord of the Darkness, the horrorphile, gorehound and terrorfreak, yours truly, Bryn, has turned another year older, one small step closer to the grave. But I ain’t no where near ready to give up the ghost just yet! No sirree! I’m here to paaaarrrrty! (cue: cheesy 80s synth-pop soundtrack from The Return of the Living Dead)

I’m Sagittarian with a love of the lurid, mischievous and dangerous side of the Dionysian excesses. I’m the centaur with a deadly crossbow. Pan of the Macabre. But enough of my bad boy birthday behaviour, I’ll leave that for the weekend.

Instead while I’m on still on the animation tip, in particular; stop-motion, here’s an amazing twenty-minute art film that delves into the shadows of the imagination, the creepy and surreal machinations and mechanical goings-on within a box and its miniature puppet inhabitants.

Street of Crocodiles (1986) is the creation of two ex-pat Americans, based in the UK, the identical Brothers Quay (Stephen & Timothy). The experimental film is an ingenious mediation on the kinds of nightmare imagery that might’ve permeated your childhood dreams. Filmed in gorgeously dark hues and looking and feeling like a film lifted from some Eastern European archive from the 1930s, the meandering, almost plot-less, narrative excursion etches itself deftly into the mind and consciousness.

“What happens in the shadow, in the grey regions, also interests us – all that is elusive and fugitive, all that can be said in those beautiful half tones, or in whispers, in deep shade,” is how the two brothers describe what inspires them as filmmakers.

Based on the work of Polish writer Bruno Schulz and brilliantly constructed and realised, Street of Crocodiles is a triumph of mood and atmosphere, a dialogue-free vision of brooding elegance and grotesque aesthetics. I first saw the film at the annual Wellington Film Festival in New Zealand around the time it was released, and it has remained in the dusty cobwebbed recesses of my mind ever since. The unfortunate consequence with short films screened at film festivals is that they’re usually the only time you’ll ever see them. But thankfully to the marvel of youtube and the DVD revolution some of these rare gems are able to be seen by a wider audience.

Here is Street of Crocodiles in two parts:

179

Vote

subscribe to this blog

follow this blog on Orble

start your own blog

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

Related Posts:

Relate This Post

[ Previous - Black Christmas ]

[ Next - CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH: Stephen King vs. J.K. Rowling ]

Comments

19 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Cibbuano

December 20th 2007 01:44

Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

that is the problem with festivals, eh? It's great to see movies that you wouldn't normally watch, but good luck trying to track them down!

Comment by Tracy

December 20th 2007 02:15

Movies and Life

Happy birthday, King of Darkness.

Hope you have a great day,

Tracy

Comment by Bryn

December 20th 2007 02:35

Horrorphile

Cibby, exactly ... unless you have a body of work of short films and establish a cult following, then perhaps you might get them released as a collection on DVD ... or have a short film accompany a feature on a DVD ...

Tracy, that's Lord of the Darkness to you! ; -)
I'm having a bloody good day so far!! Cheers!!

Comment by Tracy

December 20th 2007 02:41

Movies and Life

I stand corrected...ooooppps!!

Comment by Mr Nice Guy

December 20th 2007 03:42

Pop Culturist
Pop Rock Factory

Salutations Lord of the Darkness.

May the years not condemn.

Comment by Damo

December 20th 2007 03:59

So you lasted another years.
These damn curses are not not worth the money you pay for them.

The voodoo doll I made of you sat up one day and walked out the door.
Did he come to your place?

Anyway have happy birthday and may you hault the dark shadows a little longer.

Damo

Comment by jon

December 20th 2007 04:38

Orble News
Urban Hint
Blog Adviser
Jon's Bookmarks
Debate Battle
Orblepedia

Happy birthday old boy. Is this your human birthday or your vampire conversion birthday?

Comment by charles

December 20th 2007 06:00

ZCars
Ponderous

Happy B'day mate - have a good one!

Comment by katyzzz

December 20th 2007 06:37

Photography Tips
MS Paint Art

Happy birthday little horror Sagittarian, may you have many more of them.

Love and best wishes,

katyzzz

Comment by JohnDoe

December 20th 2007 07:56

Film & TV on DVD

#1 on the hit parade for the date of your spawning, nice going.

May your day be filled with terrifying joy and the night drenched in gruesome eroticism.

Comment by Michaelie

December 20th 2007 08:25

Flick Wit

I knew there was a darkness pervading this day! Anniversary of the Birth of Bryn, kill-seeker extraordinaire.

Hope you've had a devilish day. Don't you and your deadly crossbow get into too much mischief now!

Michaelie

Comment by Bryn

December 20th 2007 14:59

Horrorphile

It is into the morning aftermath of my glorious gory birthday ... and I'm having trouble typing.
All I can say, is thank you most kindly to those who have visited my post today and spread the dark love ... it undulates back at you with a fever and a friendly snarl ...

Comment by Ash

December 20th 2007 15:18

Flashes of memories

Happy, happy Birthday Bryn - you planned your entrance to the world well - birthday - Christmas - New Year - full year for liver to recover!

A thinking man!

Have a great weekend ahead, if I see a shadow cast over the moon I shall know you are having a good time

Ash

Comment by Lilla

December 20th 2007 22:01

From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYN

I was wondering where you had got to?

Hope the party was a Nightmare...

Cheers!

Comment by KylieW

December 21st 2007 01:01

Celebrity Obsession

I hope the Dark Lords hangover isn't too debilitating (I'm suffering much the same today, I must say that I feel your pain)

Hope you had a great birthday.

Comment by Bryn

December 21st 2007 05:25

Horrorphile

hey everyone, thank you for the kind words ... I had the best intentions of delivering a post today - Midnight Express - but the aftermath of my birthday got in the way ...
I will endeavour to have that post up on the weekend, and a Christmas post on Xmas Eve ...
Cheers! (groan)