Dimensions of Dialogue

Dimensions of Dialogue
Directed byJan Švankmajer
Written byJan Švankmajer
CinematographyVladimír Malík
Edited byHelena Lebdušková
Music byJan Klusák
Distributed byKrátký Film Praha
Release date
  • January 25, 1983 (1983-01-25)
Running time
12 minutes
CountryCzechoslovakia

Dimensions of Dialogue (Czech: Možnosti dialogu, lit.: Possibilities of Dialogue) is a 1983 Czechoslovak animated short film directed by Jan Švankmajer. It is 12 minutes long and created with stop motion.

Plot

The animation is divided into three sections. Objective Dialogue (Dialog věcný) shows Arcimboldo-like heads gradually reducing each other to bland copies; Passionate Dialogue (Dialog vášnivý) shows a clay man and woman who dissolve into one another sexually, then quarrel and reduce themselves to a frenzied, boiling pulp; and Exhaustive Dialogue (Dialog vyčerpávající) consists of two elderly clay heads who extrude various objects on their tongues (toothbrush and toothpaste; shoe and shoelaces, etc.) and intertwine them in various combinations.

Reception

Terry Gilliam selected the film as one of the ten best animated films of all time.

Awards

References

  1. ↑ Švankmajer, Jan (2014-03-27). Touching and Imagining: An Introduction to Tactile Art. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9780857735300.
  2. ↑ "Re-animating the Lost Objects d'Childhood and the Everyday: Jan Svankmajer". Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  3. ↑ Gilliam, Terry (April 27, 2001). "Terry Gilliam Picks the Ten Best Animated Films of All Time". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2026.