

The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer
Film198414m
Where to watch
Details
- Director
- Stephen Quay
- Language
- English
- Released
- 1984-06-20
- Runtime
- 14m
Community score
Confidence
Rating weighted by how many people voted
Actor Hub
Scene work for this title — private technique journals.
Open journal →The story
In Prague, a professorial puppet, with metal pincers for hands and an open book for a hat, takes a boy as a pupil. First, the professor empties fluff and toys from the child's head, leaving him without the top of his head for most of the film. The professor then teaches the lad about illusions and perspectives, the pursuit of an object through exploring a bank of drawers, divining an object, and the migration of forms. The child then brings out a box with a tarantula in it: the professor puts his "hands" into the box and describes what he feels. The boy receives a final lesson about animation and film making; then the professor gives him a brain and his own open-book hat.
The room
Ask. Discuss. Find the next one.
Stay with The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer: ask what it is actually doing, talk it through, then follow the traits that made it land.
Ask
Talk it through
Grounded in the film — and in your map, when you have one.
Try asking
3 free asks left without an account.
Actor journal
Private scene work lives in Actor Hub — not on this title page.











