THE FLAT

The darkly humorous setting of a room in which the objects shrug off their original purpose and instead take up the fight against human beings. As if his scenario is not surrealist enough already, Jan Švankmajer goes one step further in his black-and-white minor masterpiece. Among the rebellious objects of everyday use, one remains faithful to its original function: the pencil used by the main character to add his own name to the list, which meanwhile covers the wall, of those who fought – and lost – against the malevolent room. If the function serves the war of attrition against humankind, then the object need no longer rebel. Awarded at Oberhausen and Karlovy Vary in 1969.