Tyll the Giant
Eastern European Animation Showcase • 13m
Directed by Rein Raamat • 1980 • USSR/Estonia
Rein Raamat’s reimagination of an old Estonian folk legend is a strikingly beautiful and harsh vision. The titular hero is king of the island of Saaremaa, which he protects from invaders and natural disasters – but his strength proves no match for the wiles of his nemesis, the demon god of the underworld. Raamat’s rich colour palette and shockingly violent visuals and Lepo Sumera’s droning score combine to produce a very modern fairy tale.
TYLL THE GIANT • SUUR TÕLL
Written and directed by Rein Raamat
Cinematography by Janno Põldma
Music by Lepo Sumera
In Estonian with English subtitles
Up Next in Eastern European Animation Showcase
-
Dimensions of Dialogue
Directed by Jan Švankmajer • 1982 • Czechoslovakia
Jan Švankmajer, the Czech maestro of the absurdist and the grotesque, is at his visceral best in this allegorical short. Featuring three takes on the concept of communication, Dimensions of Dialogue showcases Švankmajer’s perverse fasci...
-
The Masque of the Red Death
Directed by Pavao Štalter and Branko Ranitović • 1971 • Yugoslavia
This eerie Yugoslav adaptation transforms Poe’s classic Gothic tale into a disturbing cautionary tale about the dangers of sexual temptation. Capturing the castle of Prince Prospero in moody ochre tones, directors Pavao Štalter a...
-
Scenes With Beans
Directed by Ottó Foky • 1976 • Hungary
A miniature oddball classic from Hungary’s celebrated Pannónia studio, one of eastern Europe’s great hotbeds of animation. Written by József Nepp, himself a master of stop motion film, Scenes with Beans is Ottó Foky’s absurdist allegory about the i...
