The Pied Piper
- 53:04
This video is only available with Night Flight+.
synopsis
Director Jiří Barta’s stop-motion animated masterpiece, based on The Pied Piper of Hamelin, is set in a dark and twisted medieval village of narrow streets and weird Gothic arches, half-CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI and half-Jan van Eyck. The money-obsessed citizens, carved out of wood blocks and speaking in an onomatopoeic babble, are like George Grosz caricatures, literally spouting coins from their mouths instead of words. The rats are far more organic and sympathetic, made of real fur and whiskers, constantly tunneling and burrowing under the towering arches and cobblestone streets above. (In one of the film’s many surreal moments, a rat emerges from a gargoyle’s gaping maw.) Fans of fellow Czech animation legend Jan Švankmajer and the Brothers Quay will adore Barta’s eerie, Expressionist gem, recently restored for its first-ever U.S. release through Krátký Film Praha, Deaf Crocodile and Comeback Company.
recommended
I Was A Zombie For The FBI
In 1985, SPIN Magazine asked Bob Dylan "What movies do you wish you'd been in?" One of his answers was "I Was a Zombie For the F.B.I," which had aired for the first time on cable TV o...Read More
Santa Sangre
It has been hailed as "extraordinary" (The Guardian), "visionary and haunting" (Rolling Stone) and "a grand work of art, full of symbols and imagery that reach beyond language to some...Read More
Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?
The Beatles said that Harry Nilsson was their favorite American musician. Nilsson won two Grammys® and was the recipient of seventeen gold records, yet he is relatively unknown today....Read More
Gorgon Video Magazine
Produced by Night Flight Creator Stuart S. Shapiro, Gorgon Video Magazine is an electronic gorefest featuring in-depth interviews with splatter masters, chilling special effects, and ...Read More
Punk Revolution NYC: The Velvet Underground, The New York Dolls And The CBGBs Set
This documentary film traces the entire history of New York's punk movement; the VU years, the Warhol influence, the Dolls reign. Performance footage, rare archive, exclusive intervie...Read More
Vangelis and the Journey to Ithaka
A NIGHT FLIGHT PLUS EXCLUSIVE: From music film director Tony Palmer comes an extraordinary inside look at the life and music of VANGELIS. It’s hard to escape the music of VANGELIS. Hi...Read More
Punk the Capital: Building a Sound Movement
A monumental documentary about the rise of punk rock in the town that needed it most... Washington D.C. When punk rock erupted in Washington DC, it was a mighty convergence of powerfu...Read More
The Love Witch
Elaine, a beautiful young witch, is determined to find a man to love her. In her gothic Victorian apartment she makes spells and potions, and then picks up men and seduces them. Howev...Read More
Blank Generation
Classic punk rock movie from 1980 starring Richard Hell, illustrating the end of the first wave of New York City punk rock better than other films. Nada (Carole Bouquet), a beautiful ...Read More
Best of New Wave Theatre
A special program containing the ultimate highlights from the critically acclaimed nationally broadcast music/comedy cable program that literally revolutionized rock & roll television...Read More
The Return Of Captain Invincible
Alan Arkin and horror/fantasy icon Christopher Lee star in the long-unseen 1982 action-comedy from the director of The Beast Within and Howling II, with songs by Richard O'Brien (The ...Read More
The Peanut Butter Solution
If you were a child in the '80s, you were likely traumatized for life by repeated viewings of this on cable or VHS. If you've never seen it, nothing can prepare you for the damage tha...Read More
High Lonesome - The Story Of Bluegrass Music
With uncommon passion and devotion, High Lonesome traces the evolution of bluegrass, one of America's most vital musical fusions, from its folk roots in the Kentucky hills through the...Read More
Comedy's Dirtiest Dozen
This classic 1988 comedy concert film launched the careers of Tim Allen, Chris Rock and Jackie The Joke Man Martling. It also features the definitive performance of legendary Bill Hic...Read More
Minor Threat Live
Minor Threat played one of its last shows at Washington DC's 930 Club in June of 1983; they would only play once more in DC. Two years later, the tapes from the 930 show were edited t...Read More
Brainiac - Transmissions After Zero
In the mid 90's the Dayton, OH music scene became a hot spot generating worldwide buzz from the influential indie rock being produced there (The Breeders, Guided by Voices). Arguably ...Read More