Karel decides to clean up the yard around their new cottage by cutting down the trees and pulling up the roots.  In the process, Karel discovers a root with some likeness of a newborn, and he decides to play a little trick on his wife Bozena to lighten up the gloomy atmosphere around them.  However, when Karel brings home the root Bozena has a break down, which seems to lead her to believe that the root truly is an infant.  Bozena sees a navel, fingers, and a mouth and so on, which intensify her delusion.  In panic Karel grabs the root and begins to hit hard against the table repeating the words, “wood, wood, wood”, but it only strikes Bozena with more horror of how he treats what she sees as a child.

In a secret charade Karel and Bozena pretend being pregnant, as she wants to nurture the root.  The day comes when Bozena gives birth, which is funny in a peculiar way, and Karel has to drive her to their cottage where she hides out.  When Karel returns he makes a horrific discovery as the root has turned into a live thing, which they end up calling Otik.

The maternal connection between Bozena and Otik could be likened to Dr. Frankenstein’s affection for the creature that he created as he yells, “It’s alive!”  The affection could be seen as an obsessive as the creature grows rapidly and its seemingly endless hunger drives them to near bankruptcy.  When Otik's hunger arises and no food is to be served then Otik grabs whatever is available, which leads the couple into a quandary as they have to balance the law with their love for Otik.  It turns into a strange tale of grotesque and surreal decisions as the little Otik turns into the monstrous Otik.

Next door through the eyes of a neighbor child, Alzbetka, the audience gets to experience her abusive family whose only way of educating her is a firm slap on the head.  Alzbetka does not have any friends, which is something she is dreaming of having, and she does not want to befriend her classmates, according to her, who are stupid.  Alzbetka reads books on human sexuality and whatever else she can get her hands on.  When the neighbor becomes pregnant Alzbetka is the only person who smells something fishy, as she investigates and discovers the truth through a fairytale book.

Through the story in the book Alzbetka foresees a gruesome path cornered in blood, gluttony, and a surreal friendship.  The gluttony in the story seems to be an analogy to the modernizing society in which the Czech people want more things to fill their small apartments.  This notion is also supported through Alzbetka’s father who constantly watches TV at night, while devouring different kind of snacks, desiring whatever the commercials display.

Little Otik, ultimately, offers a good cinematic experience, even if it could seem to be a little long.  Nonetheless, the tale provides excellent cinematography through several close-ups and zooms, which is edited in an occasionally rapid manner.  This encourages the audience to pay attention to the events on the screen.  There is stop-motion animation, which is a somewhat of a trademark for Jan Svankmajer and can seen in his previous films such as Alice (1988), Faust (1994), and Conspirators of Pleasure (1996).  It is this stop-motion animation that brings the lifeless root to life in a very surreal, yet fascinating manner, as the film creates a wonderfully bizarre event that will not be forgotten.

DIRECTED BY

Jan Svankmajer

COUNTRY

Czech Republic / Japan / UK

Filmography links and data courtesy of