The Emperor’s Nightingale
Sat Dec 15, 2018
3:30 PM - 4:50 PM
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
A young, shut-away Chinese emperor becomes enraptured by a nightingales songand then by its mechanical reproductionin Trnkas magical adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. A baroque music box brought to life, The Emperors Nightingale is stop-motion at its most lavish, featuring some of Trnkas greatest designs: refined porcelain figurines bedecked in ornate costumes, a court setting overflowing with gorgeous fabrics, and intricate lattice work. Just as memorable as its shining beauty is the films plea to enjoy the natural world and to break away from prisons both mechanical and emotional. The legendary Czech Surrealist writer Vítězslav Nezval collaborated on the screenplay.