''Dimensions of Dialogue'' (, lit.: ''Possibilities of Dialogue'') is a 1983 Czechoslovak animated

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

directed by Jan Švankmajer. It is 12 minutes long and created with

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

Plot

The animation is divided into three sections. ''Objective Dialogue'' (''Dialog věcný'') shows Arcimboldo-like heads gradually reducing each other to bland copies; ''Passionate Dialogue'' (''Dialog vášnivý'') shows a clay man and woman who dissolve into one another sexually, then quarrel and reduce themselves to a frenzied, boiling pulp; and ''Exhaustive Dialogue'' (''Dialog vyčerpávající'') consists of two elderly clay heads who extrude various objects on their tongues (toothbrush and toothpaste; shoe and shoelaces, etc.) and intertwine them in various combinations.Re-animating the Lost Objects d'Childhood and the Everyday: Jan Svankmajer
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Reception

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Pa ...

selected the film as one of the ten best animated films of all time.

Awards

* Annecy International Animated Film Festival 1983 – Won Grand Prix *

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

1983 – Won Golden Bear for Best Short Film, C.I.D.A.L.C. Award (Honorable Mention)

References

External links

*
Dimensions of Dialogue - Tativille
1983 films 1983 animated short films Czechoslovak animated short films Films directed by Jan Švankmajer Stop-motion animated short films Czech animated short films Surrealist films Film censorship in the Czech Republic Films scored by Jan Klusák Annecy Cristal–winning films {{short-animation-film-stub