Lunacy (film)

Lunacy
Directed by Jan Švankmajer
Produced by Jaromír Kallista
Written by Jan Švankmajer
Based on The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether and The Premature Burial, by Edgar Allan Poe
Works by Marquis de Sade
Starring Pavel Liška
Jan Tříska
Anna Geislerová
Martin Huba
Jaroslav Dušek
Pavel Nový
Music by Ivo Špalj
Cinematography Juraj Galvánek
Edited by Marie Zemanová
Distributed by Warner Bros. (Czech Republic)
Zeitgeist Films (USA)
Release dates
  • 3 November 2005 (2005-11-03)
Running time
 118 minutes
Country Czech Republic
Slovakia
Language Czech
Box office $133,982 (INT)[1]

Lunacy (Czech: Šílení) is a 2005 Czech film by Jan Švankmajer. The film is loosely based on two short stories, "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" and "The Premature Burial", by Edgar Allan Poe. It is also partly inspired by the works of the Marquis de Sade. The film was shot between October 2004 and April 2005, on location in the village of Peruc close to Prague, and in Švankmajer's studio in the village of Knovíz.

Plot summary

Jean Berlot (Liska) is a deeply troubled man who has been haunted by violent hallucinations since the death of his mother, who was committed to a mental institution when she passed on. While arranging his mother's funeral, Jean meets a fellow inmate who claims to be the Marquis de Sade (Triska), and lives as if he's in 18th-century France rather than the Czech Republic in 2005. Jean strikes up an alliance with De Sade, though they can hardly be called friends, and after becoming an unwilling accomplice to De Sade's debauchery, Jean joins him at a hospital run by Dr. Murlloppe (Dusek), who offers "Purgative Therapy" for people who aren't mad but could be in the future. Jean falls for a beautiful nurse named Charlota (Geislerova), who claims she's being held at the hospital against her will; in time, Jean hatches a plan to liberate her and the inmates, though he learns the truth is even more disturbing than he's been led to believe.

Box office

The film grossed $48,324 in the US and $85,658 from foreign markets for a grand total of $133,982.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Lunacy (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-07-27.


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