See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

3 used & new from £33.00
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Little Otik [DVD] [2000]
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

Little Otik [DVD] [2000]

DVD ~ Veronika Zilkova
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


2 new from £53.90 1 collectible from £33.00
Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Little Otik [DVD] [2000]
64% buy the item featured on this page:
Little Otik [DVD] [2000] 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)
Jan Svankmajer's Alice/Shorts [DVD] [1988] [US Import]
14% buy
Jan Svankmajer's Alice/Shorts [DVD] [1988] [US Import] 5.0 out of 5 stars (9)
Jan Svankmajer - The Complete Short Films [DVD] [1964]
13% buy
Jan Svankmajer - The Complete Short Films [DVD] [1964] 5.0 out of 5 stars (6)
£24.98
The Secret Adventures Of Tom Thumb [DVD]
9% buy
The Secret Adventures Of Tom Thumb [DVD] 4.7 out of 5 stars (3)
£4.68
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Actors: Veronika Zilkova, Jan Hartl, Kristina Adamcova, Pavel Novy, Jaroslava Kretschmerova
  • Directors: Jan Svankmajer
  • Format: PAL
  • Language Czech
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: Cinema Club
  • DVD Release Date: 16 Jun 2003
  • Run Time: 126 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00006G9VZ
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 42,534 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Reviews

Special Features
DVD Technical Information:
  • Video Aspect Ratio: Feature – 4:3
  • Main soundtrack: Czech stereo
  • Subtitles: English
  • Disc Format: Single sided, dual layer – DVD 9
  • Feature length: 126 mins approx.
  • Colour: PAL


Synopsis
Jan Svankmajer's fourth feature is the story of a thirtysomething couple who, despite their infertility, yearn to have a baby. When Karel (Jan Hartl), the husband, digs up a stump that resembles a newborn, he varnishes it and presents it to his wife, Bozena (Veronika Zilkova), hoping to comfort her and fill the void in their lives. To his astonishment, Bozena immediately begins treating the stump like a real child, and the two dub the stump Otik. Karel's astonishment grows when Bozena manages to nurse Otik into a mewling, living baby, a newborn with a wooden body and a voracious appetite. It isn't long before Otik devours the family cat and the postman, forcing the couple into a quandary. However, Alzbetka, their precocious pre-adolescent neighbor, has discovered the couple's secret by reading a Czech folk tale that parallels the strange occurrences next door, giving the young girl an idea of her own for Otik.
As in Svankmajer's superb 1996 film CONSPIRATORS OF PLEASURE, the director uses his trademark stop-motion animation sparingly and focuses on his characters' desires, invariably making them seem perverse (food is always particularly grotesque in Svankmajer's universe). Brilliant, funny, and frightening, LITTLE OTIK is a wonderfully entertaining and disturbing film.

See all Reviews

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Jan Svankmajer's Alice/Shorts [DVD] [1988] [US Import]

Jan Svankmajer's Alice/Shorts [DVD] [1988] [US Import]

DVD ~ Kristýna Kohoutová
5.0 out of 5 stars (9) 
Jan Svankmajer - The Complete Short Films [DVD] [1964]

Jan Svankmajer - The Complete Short Films [DVD] [1964]

DVD ~ Jan Svankmajer
5.0 out of 5 stars (6)  £24.98
The Quay Brothers - The Short Films 1979-2003 (Two Discs) [DVD]

The Quay Brothers - The Short Films 1979-2003 (Two Discs) [DVD]

4.7 out of 5 stars (3)  £17.98
Fantastic Planet - Masters of Cinema series [DVD]

Fantastic Planet - Masters of Cinema series [DVD]

4.0 out of 5 stars (3)  £9.98
Faust [VHS] [1994]

Faust [VHS] [1994]

VHS ~ Petr Cepek
5.0 out of 5 stars (1) 
› Explore similar items

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
Check a corresponding box or enter your own tags in the field below
(4)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Stumped..., 31 Mar 2005
By Louise Stanley (Reading, Berkshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This is just hilarious. Although over-acted, Svankmajer has created a sickening, terrifying update of the Czech fairytale Otesanek, set in a block of flats in an anonymous Czech town and a country dacha where what begins as a benign wooden doll for a childless couple turns into a ravening monstrosity lurking in the cellar, looked after by a girl whose loneliness turns her into the devil incarnate when Otik begins to get too hungry for leftover soup and dumplings.

The stop-motion animation is worthy of the noble tradition of Eastern European film, and does not attempt to make it too realistic, a fact which tends to jar with the gritty reality of the film (particularly the editing when they cut to Otik can give a bit of a jerky effect to otherwise seamless footage) but it fits with the wild and wonderful nature of European storytelling and the tragicomic story, with a slow transition from a hungry baby to a gargantuan godzilla ripping the vital organs out of passersby.

Bozena Horakova's innocence and naivete give some insight into how the mothers of real tearaways feel when their son or daughter goes off the rails, and helps us understand the powerful bond between mother and child which can forgive everything, even chewing up the postman ("well, he *was* going to retire anyway...") or the social worker ("she *was* an arrogant old busybody..."). Her desperation is contrasted with the nonchalant responses of Stadlerova, her husband and daughter, and the other residents, all of whom stand and watch Bozena's descent into madness and Karel's ineffectual attempts to destroy the creature before it is too late.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Baby feeding frenzy, 2 Sep 2006
By Sarakani (Harrow United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This is a film about babies and food. It depicts graphic images of food in a rather unappetizing manner but conveys hard truths about food in an unpleasant context. In a grotesque erruption in the perception of food as potentially repulsive, we have here a baby that demands flesh, including human flesh in growing amounts.

Little Otik is born to an Eastern European family living in a flat. These people are not rich but seem to live in a sort of socialist setting with good medical and welfare provisions. The blonde mother to be is rather attractive but she and her husband are both infertile.

Obsessed with children, the husband gives the wife a log of wood as a baby substitute and this turns into a cooing, gurgling monster. You will never see babies in quite the same way after you've seen this film.

The neighbours of this couple are very decent but their daughter starts spying on the pregnancy and why the expectant couple seem so secretive about the kind of baby they have. She unravels the secret but can only relate the mostrosity of the situtation to herself - by reading a children's story aloud that parallels the real life events.

Everything is graphical and surreal - a fairy tale with the most hideous outcomes coming true. In the end, I don't really care too much about whether the film actually needs a decisive conclusion or makes too much sense - it is all done with a lot of thought, attention to detail and the script is simple and delightfully human (in an interesting alien tongue).

The whole thing is a sort of "What if" writ large and the scenes are often shocking and grotesque though the monster cries and shrieks like any ordinary baby, no matter how large it gets.

Metaphorically the monster represents children who refuse to grow up or demand too much; an exploration of the parent/offspring relationship; how food can be consuming in many senses of the word.

I found the main character - the little blonde neighbour's daughter very captivating. She is so sensible, inscrutable, clever and caring and knows exactly what's on everyone's mind and that mischief is fun. The old paedophile who keeps on trying to grab her becomes one of her prime victims, thanks to the monster and she knows exactly how to lure him. There are fetishtic close ups of lips, feet, food and associated items emphasising textures and latent greed which is somewhat unnerving yet draws you in. The visuals are of course inimitable to Svankmajer.

Really strange, sharp, bold. Not everyone will like this film but it is literally "food for thought" and pretty awesome in its matter of fact brutality, ironic humour and out of this world quality. This is one of a kind - though perhaps with shades of a former US film about a man eating, talking, indoor plant and a dark experimental film I saw of an ill treated child, growing for himself a grandmother by planting a seed in dirt.
Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

Health & Beauty at Amazon.co.uk

Elemis Resurface and Renew Skin Care Gift Set of 4 Products
From soap to shavers, massagers to mascara, stock up on your daily essentials or truly pamper yourself.

›Discover Health & Beauty

  

Beauty without the Beast

Olay Regenerist Daily 3 Point Treatment Cream
From au naturel to party glam, we have all the best names in cosmetics and skincare.

›Discover Beauty at Amazon.co.uk

  

A Close Shave

Philips Nivea Coolskin HS8060 Moisturizing Rotary Shaving System
For all types of hair removal, stay smooth with Amazon.co.uk.

›Discover Shaving & Hair Removal

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates