Innemann, Miller, Kminek - the Czech Way of Reinventing the Fairy Tales

I was looking on the web to see whether I could find more data about Praha v září světel (Prague at Night), a movie made in 1927 by Svatopluck Innemann, one of the pioneers of Czech cinematography. I found unexpectedly a small gem of 49 seconds: Červená Karkulka (Little Red Riding Hood). A tale told rapidly and joyfully, going directly to the essential points while keeping a laughing eye towards us, suggesting that everything is an exaggeration and should not be taken too dramatically.

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Soon after finding the movie of Innemann, I met with another Červená Karkulka, a color animation this time, made in 1948 by Zdenek Miller.
While Innemann tells us the tale very straightforwardly, Miller takes definitely a baroque approach. He develops the story, embroiders new characters and situations and builds his own tale over the known tale.
Grandma and the daughter are saved by a mailman, as the hunter had found the old tale too scary and had run for help.
However Grandma thanks the hunter (most probably for keeping with the old tale), starts the gramophone and invites him for a dance (while the mailman has troubles outside with starting the engine of his car).

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And look at this Sněhurka a sedm trpasliků, made in 1933 by Oldřich Kmínek: the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs told in 29 seconds!

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(Filmele Avangardei)


(Modernism in Central Europe)