Czech puppeteer Radek Beran’s The Little Man is an unconventional fairy tale and a lovely adventure for children and adults alike.
Czech Republic
4*
Director:
Radek Beran
Screenwriter:
Lumír Tuček
Director of Photography:
Filip Sanders
Running time: 70 minutes
Original title: Malý Pán
With his second feature film, puppeteer Radek Beran sets the bar deceptively low so that we are continually surprised and exhilarated by events, visuals, twists and turns that we do not see coming. The Little Man (Malý Pán) is a film shot on location in a Czech forest but starring puppets (technically, marionettes) that are visibly manipulated, as their movements are somewhat jerky and the strings from which they hang noticeably rise up to the top of the screen.
Based on a children’s book by Lenka Uhlířová and Jiří Stach entitled The Little Man’s Great Journey (Velká cesta Malého pána), the film is an adventure that is primarily aimed at children but offers very funny moments for adults, too.
The titular man, voiced by Saša Rašilov, is youthful and slightly naïve and recently left his parents’ home to build himself a refuge in the middle of the forest, but he is haunted by a recurring nightmare of a door that won’t open while a mysterious voice orders him to open the door. This dream pushes him towards a discovery of his surroundings and eventually to open his eyes to unexpected friendships with those around him.
His first point person on solving the mysteries of existence is Empty Head, a giant disembodied head lying on the ground not far from his house. Empty Head looks rather worse for wear and says it cannot provide any answers before drinking the crystal clear water found in a fortress guarded by the evil Great Strait.
Thus begins Little Man’s journey, during which he has to persuade Fishrew (a kind of gentle half-dodo, half-Nessie that guards the moat around the fortress) to let him through, fight the Cheeky Punk (voiced by the not-dissimilar-looking Pavel Liška), research ways to fight off Great Strait, visit an expert robotic handyman that can repair anything, make friends with a larva named Fida, ask gherkins questions, find talking trees brimming with wisdom that is succinctly expressed, and much more.
The plot is a magical ride that may be light on substance but has enough quirky moments, an easy-to-follow storyline and an eclectic soundtrack by Tata Bojs frontman Milan Cais to keep the viewer fully engaged.
On the technical side, the decision to put puppetry front and centre in the visuals (by showing the strings instead of removing them in post-production) never impedes our suspension of disbelief. The work on location certainly helps the process and perhaps in light of the generally light-hearted tone of the narrative, a character’s sometimes erratic movements frequently succeed in sustaining the levity.
That is not to say that the production appears to have been simple or the product simplistic. On the contrary, the interior shots are beautiful, and director of photography Filip Sanders deserves praise for his lighting in these scenes. The flyover shots, especially the ones from the point of view of a hot air balloon late in the film, are also impressive to behold and truly gives the viewer a feeling of briefly inhabiting the world of the film along with the characters.
Although the target audience is children, Beran adds one or two curiously gruesome moments to his film that will be particularly funny to adults because they are so incongruous with the rest of the approach. One such example is the depiction of a plan conceived by the Cheeky Punk to kill Little Man, and we are shown his fantasy not by means of puppetry but through animation that includes various forms of gory execution. Another striking moment of adult comedy manages to reference Immanuel Kant and Harry Potter in the same sentence.
For the most part, however, the storytelling does little to distinguish itself from that deployed in a fairy tale. The visuals are certainly more interesting here, and since there are no actors, as such, we are spared any overacting. In fact, whenever the voices become hysterical, the effect is comical and clearly intended to elicit that reaction from the viewer.
It would be easy to belittle the film for the uncomplicated progression of its story and that it is merely a life lesson (life is worth little if you don’t have friends) presented as a flimsy adventure story. However, as suggested above, Beran’s creativity comes through on many occasions, and although he does use a handful of special effects, their use can often be explained by pointing out the scene is a dream or a fantasy or (in the case of the “Universal Fixer”) simply unrealistic, even in the world of the film.
This unconventional film may not be the most polished or the most insightful film of the year, but it keeps our attention despite its flaws. Its characters are quirky and unpredictable, and it is always a joy to keep suspending our disbelief, even when what we see is so obviously make-believe.