Flatpack Festival
Film for all the senses

Invention for Destruction

Wednesday 20th April, 2016

The Electric Cinema Screen 2 | 20:30

Here’s a rare chance to enjoy what is widely recognised as Karel Zeman’s finest achievement.

Dir: Karel Zeman Czechoslovakia 1958, 83 mins Cert: U*

Now that Film Adventurer has whetted your appetite, here’s a rare chance to enjoy what is widely recognised as Karel Zeman’s finest achievement. Weaving together various tall tales from the work of Jules Verne, Invention for Destruction concerns an evil millionaire who plots world domination from within his volcano lair. Though it sounds like a James Bond premise, and you can sense cold war tensions beneath the surface, the general tone here is one of wide-eyed wonder. The ingenuity applied by the filmmakers to the various crazy contraptions and creatures of air, land and sea is something to behold, beautifully rendered through models, puppets, stop-frame work and painted sets in the style of a Victorian engraving. Thanks to this brand new restoration we can again enjoy Zeman’s unique world in all its glory, including a marvellous score by Czech composer Zdenek Liska.

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