Baron Prasil
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$19.99
$19.99
per item
“Baron Prasil” (aka "The Fabulous Baron Munchausen"; "The Original Fabulous Adventure Of Baron Munchausen") (1961) (Karel Zeman)
Criminally under-known Czech film wizard Karel Zeman here used his amazing trademark mixed-media visual cinematic techniques; merging, juxtaposing and overlapping live action, hand drawn animation, stop-motion animation, models, matte paintings, woodcuts, life-size replicas, tinted colors and much more to bring the fantastic stories of Gottfried August Bürger’s Baron Munchausen to the screen in a way never seen before or since; which was modeled partly after Gustave Dore’s storybook-style drawings. Milos Kopecký masterfully portrays the wild, imaginative, resourceful Baron Munchausen through a flowing fever dream of interconnected and unbelievable tall tales involving trips to the moon, absurd wars, ridiculous adventures, pop art spacesuits, giant rubber fish, stop-frame owls, winged horses, changing colors, fantastic landscapes, sea ships, mermaids, castles, cannonballs, love, poetry and imagination; all harmoniously displayed in endlessly clever games of visual creativity. It is as if Georges Méliès, Rankin And Bass and Lewis Carroll have all met in heaven to have fun with a movie camera. The wonderfully diverse score is by the great Zdenek Liska; which propels and dances along the fun and exciting otherworldly escapades with a range from experimental electronics, to abstract, nonsensical language tones, to playful catchy melodies to oddball action cues. It is well known that Terry Gilliam has been greatly influenced by the work of Karel Zeman and has directly swiped many tricks and styles from him; which can be seen in Gilliam’s early Python cut-and-paste animation as well as his later live action production design styles, flavors, humors, movement and mise en scène (and of course with his own troubled remake of Baron Munchausen); but do not let that dissuade you from experience the cinema of Karel Zeman.
Also included is a 17 min. mini-documentary entitled; “The Special Effects Of Karel Zeman”
1961 / 84mins. / Original Aspect Ratio / English Dub / Color Tints (Agfacolor) / Czechoslovakia
Picture Quality: A- (Source: AVI)
Criminally under-known Czech film wizard Karel Zeman here used his amazing trademark mixed-media visual cinematic techniques; merging, juxtaposing and overlapping live action, hand drawn animation, stop-motion animation, models, matte paintings, woodcuts, life-size replicas, tinted colors and much more to bring the fantastic stories of Gottfried August Bürger’s Baron Munchausen to the screen in a way never seen before or since; which was modeled partly after Gustave Dore’s storybook-style drawings. Milos Kopecký masterfully portrays the wild, imaginative, resourceful Baron Munchausen through a flowing fever dream of interconnected and unbelievable tall tales involving trips to the moon, absurd wars, ridiculous adventures, pop art spacesuits, giant rubber fish, stop-frame owls, winged horses, changing colors, fantastic landscapes, sea ships, mermaids, castles, cannonballs, love, poetry and imagination; all harmoniously displayed in endlessly clever games of visual creativity. It is as if Georges Méliès, Rankin And Bass and Lewis Carroll have all met in heaven to have fun with a movie camera. The wonderfully diverse score is by the great Zdenek Liska; which propels and dances along the fun and exciting otherworldly escapades with a range from experimental electronics, to abstract, nonsensical language tones, to playful catchy melodies to oddball action cues. It is well known that Terry Gilliam has been greatly influenced by the work of Karel Zeman and has directly swiped many tricks and styles from him; which can be seen in Gilliam’s early Python cut-and-paste animation as well as his later live action production design styles, flavors, humors, movement and mise en scène (and of course with his own troubled remake of Baron Munchausen); but do not let that dissuade you from experience the cinema of Karel Zeman.
Also included is a 17 min. mini-documentary entitled; “The Special Effects Of Karel Zeman”
1961 / 84mins. / Original Aspect Ratio / English Dub / Color Tints (Agfacolor) / Czechoslovakia
Picture Quality: A- (Source: AVI)
