Very well executed

To me, this movie is perfection.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Dimensions of Dialogue, directed by Jan Svankmajer is a very interesting and amazing film. It is so creative and I can only imagine the hours it took to set up each frame. It is created during the year's right after WWII, an era where a director had to be very careful of the content of his or her film because it could cost them their life. The film is comprised of three different shorts each depicting a form of communication to be interpreted by the viewer as to their thoughts and feelings. I am not sure how I interpret the fist one, which shows fruit devouring and regurgitating fruit turning into kitchen utensils doing the same thing and ending with writing paraphernalia repeating the process. My original thoughts were of progression; things that do not last very long, the fruit, to things that can be around for a time, but eventually rust or break, the utensils, to the written word, which if allowed to, can be around for hundreds of years.The second short probably touched me more than the other two because of the way I interpreted it. It shows two clay figures, man and woman, and how at first are reluctant or hesitant of each other and then become passionate. As a consequence of this passion a third thing is created and how they deal or don't deal with it is so true of many humans today. The thought is not always there of the outcome nor having the mind to rule the will of desire strong enough to accept what has happened. The third depiction was in my opinion, a play on politics where you had these two heads more or less competing to see who could out maneuver the other. At first things seemed to be interchangeable but it became apparent that each had its' own individuality. Over all it was a very interesting concept with just the score and the pictures as the dialogue and each viewer to interpret as they will.

This is hands down one of the coolest and most impressive animated shorts I have ever seen. Divided into three parts, each is equally well made and absorbing. Aesthetically speaking, this was probably light years ahead of its time--a beautiful ancestor of filmmakers like Tim Burton. The messages can be hard to decipher but there is a good deal of political commentary here as well, especially the third one which speaks strongly and poignantly against Communism. Even if you don't quite know what each is saying (the first still confuses me) they are wonderful to simply watch. Beautiful and fluid. It's amazing that he was even able to get away with creating these shorts in Eastern Europe at the time without being killed by the government. If you have a chance, watch this movie. You will not regret it.

This film questions the society of the time with powerful images. These animations portray ideas and beliefs without the use of dialogue. The first piece questions the society and the new level of the industrial age. His second piece is a portrayal of a man and a women couple. They start off with love and create a third entity. This leads to hatred and complete destruction. The last piece takes on the job of two heads. They start with complimentary jobs. As they stray from their natural rhythm they are no longer able to perform well. This lead to total destruction. This could be a take on communism and the controlling government of the time. There are many ways to analyze this work of art but even if one is not looking for meaning the skilled technique of Svankmajor is inspiring just in terms of his form.

This is a rather interesting short film from legendary animator/filmmaker Jan Svankmajer that looks at the notions of communication breakdown and personal alienation. It is a completely stop-motion piece of animation; offering something of a social parable broken into three individual chapters. The sequences include Exhaustive Discussion, Passionate Discussion and finally, Factual Conversation. Each segment is supposed to represent a satirical comment on various aspects of communication breakdown within modern Czech culture, though whether or not you choose to follow this particular interpretation will be entirely down to you.Regardless of the message, which could be viewed as somewhat simplistic in relation to Svankmajer's more engaging works - such as The Flat (1968), Jabberwocky (1971), Alice (1988) and Conspirators of Pleasure (1996) - it is the animation that remains the truly impressive factor in this film's overall design, with the director creating some wonderful characters and scenarios out of a variety of old, inanimate objects. If you are a fan of the bizarre, provocative and imaginative world that this particular filmmaker creates, then Dimensions of Dialog (1982) (or more fittingly, Possibilities of Dialog, given both the design and thematic subtext) should be required viewing.