Surviving Life

2010 Czech film

Surviving Life

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Jan Švankmajer
Written by| Jan Švankmajer
Produced by| Jaromír Kallista
Starring| Václav Helšus
Klára Issová
Zuzana Kronerová
Emília Došeková
Daniela Bakerová
Cinematography| Jan Růžička
Juraj Galvánek
Edited by| Marie Zemanová
Music by| Alexandr Glazunov
Jan Kalinov

Production
companies

Athanor
C-GA Film

Distributed by| Bontonfilm

Release dates

* 7 September 2010 (2010-09-07) (Venice Film Festival)
* 4 November 2010 (2010-11-04) (Czech Republic)

Running time

| 109 minutes
Countries| Czech Republic
Slovakia
Language| Czech
Budget| 35 million Kč

Surviving Life (Czech: Přežít svůj život) is a 2010 Czech comedy film by Jan Švankmajer, starring Václav Helšus, Klára Issová and Zuzana Kronerová. The film uses a mix of cutout animation from photographs and live-action segments, and tells the story of a married man who lives a double life in his dreams, where he meets another woman. It premiered out of competition at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.

## Cast

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* Václav Helšus as Evžen and Milan
* Klára Issová as Evženie
* Zuzana Kronerová as Milada
* Emília Došeková as super-ego
* Daniela Bakerová as Dr. Holubová
* Marcel Němec as colleague
* Jan Počepický as antiquarian
* Jana Oľhová as prostitute
* Pavel Nový as janitor
* Karel Brožek as boss
* Miroslav Vrba as Fikejz

## Production

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The film was co-produced by Athanor and the Slovak company C-GA Film, with participation of Czech Television and UPP. It received eight million korun from the Czech State Fund for Support and Development of Cinematography and around six million korun from Eurimages. Additional support was granted by the MEDIA Programme.[1][2] The production involved a total budget of 35 million korun.[1] Animation work was done by an international team at Švankmajer's studio in Knovíz, just outside Prague.[3] The film uses Alexander Glazunov's Concert Waltz No.1 in D,op 47 as opening and ending theme.

## Release

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Surviving Life premiered on 7 September 2010 out of competition at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.[4] It was subsequently shown at several festivals including the London Film Festival.[5] Bontonfilm released it in the Czech Republic on 4 November 2010.[6]

## Reception

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Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter called Švankmajer a "grand master not just of innovative animation techniques but of life itself", and wrote that the director "is at the height of his filmmaking powers as director, artistic director and storyteller here." Young also noted, however, that the film's complex narrative and unconventional imagery "will not be everyone's cup of tea."[7] Variety editor Leslie Felperin complimented the chemistry between Helšus and Issová, and noted how the film was more similar to Czech mainstream comedies than what normally would be expected from the director: "For all the grotesquerie on display (and there's hardly anything here as disturbing as Svankmajer's imagery in Alice from 1988), pic feels much lighter in tone than the helmer's last few films, such as Lunacy, Greedy Guts (aka Little Otik), or Conspirators of Pleasure."[8]

Švankmajer won the Czech Lion for Best Art Direction for the film.[9] It was also nominated for Best Director and Best Sound.[10]

## References

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1. ^ a b "Nový Švankmajerův film bude mít premiéru na festivalu v Benátkách". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). Economia. Czech News Agency. 13 August 2010.
2. ^ "Surviving Life (Theory and Practice)". Czech Film Center. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
3. ^ Spáčilová, Mirka (3 August 2009). "Švankmajer natáčí světový unikát: animuje fotografie herců". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
4. ^ "Out of Competition: Přežít svůj život (Surviving Life) - Jan Švankmajer". labiennale.org. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
5. ^ "54th BFI London Film Festival: Film on the Square". bfi.org. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
6. ^ "Přežít svůj život (teorie a praxe)". CSFD (in Czech). POMO Media Group. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
7. ^ Young, Deborah (22 September 2010). "Surviving Life | Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 24 September 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
8. ^ Felperin, Leslie (7 September 2010). "Surviving Life Review". Variety. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
9. ^ Franklin, Anna (7 March 2011). "Radim Spacek's Walking Too Fast Scoops Top Prizes at Czech Lions". Film New Europe. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
10. ^ Zemanová, Irena (21 February 2011). "Walking Too Fast Leads Czech Lion Nominations". Film New Europe. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.

## External links

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* Surviving Life at Bontonfilm's website (in Czech)
* Surviving Life at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Jan Švankmajer

* Filmography

Feature films|

* Alice (1988)
* Faust (1994)
* Conspirators of Pleasure (1996)
* Little Otik (2000)
* Lunacy (2005)
* Surviving Life (2010)
* Insects (2018)

Short films|

* The Last Trick (1964)
* A Game with Stones (1965)
* The Garden (1968)
* The Flat (1968)
* Picnic with Weissmann (1968)
* A Quiet Week in the House (1969)
* Don Juan (1969)
* Jabberwocky (1971)
* Leonardo's Diary (1972)
* Castle of Otranto (1977)
* Dimensions of Dialogue (1982)
* The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope (1983)
* Meat Love (1988)
* The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia (1990)
* Food (1992)

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