brolsky By now, nearly everyone should be familiar with the Munchausen story or, at least, some portion of it even if shi didn't grown up on these German drinking boasts which got way out of hand. This is not the first or last treatment of the braggart Baron, but this version has a charm that many others lack. The film is shot, predominantly in sepia tone with occasional bits in exaggerated color for artistic emphasis. Those who recall the pink coat in Schindler's List will have some idea of what is happening. But, in this case, the effect is not so much an attempt to indicate a major event that was necessarily slighted in the film. Rather, it helps to emphasize the aspects of the fantastic and the fairy tale romanticism that the director is emphasizing. The live actors are shot against an animated background and are often blithely unaware of the fantastic things that are sweeping around them while they concern themselves with the essentially silly issues of their lives. This is Czech animation which seems rather exotic to those of us raised on Disney-esque 'realism'. Still, it's stylism adds a charm to the film that helps to reinforce the multiple layers that the director has built into this piece. You should not attempt to become involved in the film so much as to sit back and marvel at the world that is passing unobserved by those passing through it. When it has finished,you will want to watch it again and again to catch how all the different visual layers interact in your mind if not on the screen. If I had to compare this effect to any other film, I suppose I would choose the way that Altman weaves the foreground and background into the midground in "M*A*S*H", though the two films are very different and have completely different statements about the world. This is a fantasy and it is truly fantastic, but only on an adult level. Children will have many questions that all come down to 'why is it happening that way?' For children, fantasy is a chance to dream dreams and play games. This is a film for adults that has found an adult way to present the wit and contradiction of the original stories while acting out the ingenuousness of the characters' actions. See this one. It deserves your attention.

Tuttle Zeman created a hugely imaginative version of the Munchausen story; he is a visualist along the lines of Georges Melies ("A Trip To the Moon") who, through his elaborate matte and composite shots, points the way to the boundless digital worlds of Lucas's "The Phantom Menace." Despite Zeman's trippy whimsy and resourcefulness with special effects, the film is mostly unengaging, due to slack direction and detached performances. The strongest elements are an exciting horseback chase sequence carried by a rousing score, and the Baron's perpetually pathological optimism, which is central to the story and acts as a hilarious counterpoint to the fantastic events in which he finds himself. Despite the film's faults, it has to be appreciated for Zeman's distinctive overall style, and how it must reflect the artistic sensibility of its day in Eastern Europe. (Interesting observation: the eerie Theremin chords which permeate the scene by the steamboat recall the same device used a few years later on the extraterrestrial sets on "Star Trek.") Zeman's style is said to be an influence on the work of Terry Gilliam (seen most sharply in his "Monty Python" cut-out animation). As far as comparing Gilliam's 1989 version of "Munchausen" to Zeman's, Gilliam's is definitely superior: more hedonistically fantastic, entertaining, and fun. For all of Zeman's craftsmanlike wonders, his version is indeed rickety in comparison, but must be admired for the heights of fantasy it reached with the considerably more limited resources available to him.

red-74 One of the most imaginative, faithful, haunting versions of Munchausen ever. Zeman was a genius that no one seems to remember. A masterpiece of live action and stop motion using Doré's etchings as a springboard.The fact that this movie hasn't ben resurrected and distributed (on video at least), is a true tragedy. I haven't seen it for years, but I'll never forget it. Just stunning.

BugEye Probably the most charming of the filmic adaptations of Raspe's 'Baron Munchausen". Czech animator Zeman creates a wonderland by combining live actors, animated models, and old prints to relate the Baron's marvelous adventures. A tour de force of the visual imagination.