When I finished reading The Castle of Otranto, I checked to see if there had ever been any film adaptations of the story, though I had never heard of any. Imagine my delight when I discovered this short film from 1977, directed by Czech surrealist filmmaker Jan Švankmajer. Only 17 minutes long, it's structured as a mockumentary frame story in live action, featuring an adaptation of the story itself presented in cut-out animation.
The film is set at a castle in Czechoslovakia, where amateur archaeologist Dr. Vozáb is being interviewed by a reporter. Dr. Vozáb relates that Walpole's Gothic novel is based upon true events, and that the story has its origin not in the Italian town of Otranto, but here at the Czech Castle Orthany, near Náchod. We are shown artifacts the good doctor has uncovered, and take a walk to the caves where Isabella hid. The doctor's findings grow ever more fantastic, and I won't say more lest I spoil it for you!
Cut-out animation was the perfect medium to tell the story. In the very first scene, we are looking at an actual book edition of The Castle of Otranto, turning pages and then focusing on an illustration of a castle. It fills the frame and we begin to explore the illustration, subtly transitioning into exploring the interior of the illustrated castle, which we could not have have done by looking at the page in the book. The lines between the tangible reality of the book and the imaginative world of the story have been blurred, mirroring the inner experience of an engaged imagination while reading. The physical book begins to fade into the background as we read; we "live" in the story. Cut-out animation is book illustration come to almost life. It retains a slightly static, paperlike and two-dimensional storybook quality. We are in a book, but the words are beginning to take on life, as scenes cut back and forth between turning pages and animated figures. The juxtaposition of the scenes of the archaeologist and the reporter exploring the castle and looking at artifacts with the animated story world blur the lines between reality and imagination even further, until the glorious ending, when the two worlds merge into one.
The artwork and the overall tone of the film have that touch of macabre humor I always enjoy. I feel like Edward Gorey would have liked this film.
Watch it HERE
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