Wooden wonder

>> Little Otik is a hilarious cautionary tale about parenting

by MATTHEW HAYS

What to make of the latest Jan Svankmajer film? His bizarre and surreal style finds an amazing subject in a childless couple (Veronika Zilkova and Jan Hartl) who fake having a baby out of their desperation to procreate. Though primarily thought of as an animator, Svankmajer makes the leap here, with the majority of Little Otik being live action, punctuated by hilarious animated sequences.

This is a brazenly screwy picture. Things begin innocently enough, with Zilkova heartbroken that the couple’s efforts to get pregnant repeatedly fail. Hartl responds as any sensitive husband would: while doing some garden work, he comes across a tree stump that he digs up and presents to his wife. After working on it in the garden shed, it does look a wee bit like a little baby, after all.

Zilkova is thrilled. Perhaps a bit too thrilled, as hubby finds out. Zilkova is convinced this is her baby, and begins to dress “Little Otik” up, cut his finger nails, feed and bathe him. Hartl is horrified, thinking his wife has lost her mind.

But their love for the little stump leads it to begin showing signs of real, human baby-like behaviour. Little Otik is crying for food, trying to get attention and breaking things. And, like the ornery plant in Little Shop of Horrors, Otik has a wicked appetite, one that won’t be sated by the mere appetizer that the couple’s pet cat presents.

Things heat up for our couple after Otik devours the elderly mail man as he makes his rounds. The police are soon nosing about, trying to figure out the mystery of several locals who’ve gone missing. Will their desperate secret, Little Otik, be discovered? The key could come with one young girl neighbour, who’s been witness to the little stump’s high jinks and could potentially blow the whistle on this wooden troublemaker.

This film is every bit as insane and inspired as it sounds. What’s most astonishing, though, is that Svankmajer manages to make it work, on whatever level he chooses to; when the film is funny, it’s hysterical. At times, it feels like Czech myth, at other times it feels like a very contemporary cautionary tale about what horrors may follow genetic testing and cloning.
There’s something downright Biblical about Little Otik, as fans of the good book will recognize. Desperate to mess with creation, Zilkova and Hartl are going to pay the price, big time and in true dark-fairy-tale style. Whatever myth or motif Svankmajer is riffing on—he’s created a true gem here. Like the best of John Waters and Todd Solondz—and perhaps even David Cronenberg—Svankmajer has unleashed a film that is equal parts comedy and horror. Bring on the sequel! :

Little Otik opens at Cinéma du Parc this Friday, March 15