Although both created by Eastern European animators in the 1960s, Jiri Trnka's The Hand (1965) and Zagreb film's Ersatz (Surogat) (1961) adopt completely different tones to communicate their socio-political messages.
Trnka's animation, with its grim colour palette and sombre looking sculptor puppet, appears immediately serious. Aside from a few fleeting moments at the outset, where there is birdsong and the protagonist cares tenderly for his plant, there is little joy in this film. The sculptor's harassment, oppression and eventual destruction at the hand of the Czech state is depicted as a tragedy; he is small, alone and vulnerable, powerless to protect himself, his home or his work from the careless and aggressive hand.
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| Trnka's The Hand |
In contrast, Ersatz communicates a somewhat scathing message regarding consumerism using humour, a tool often employed to approach difficult subjects. The bright colours and simple shapes compliment the satirical narrative of a man trying to impress a pneumatic woman. In this tale, everything is artificial and the central character seems unused to having to work for anything; everything he needs for a day at the beach is easily inflated, and he even places and artificial fish on the end of his line before 'catching' it from the ocean. Yet this world of plenty backfires when his dream woman rejects him in favour of a more appealing man, and later as a rogue nail bursts the entire scene. The fact that everything in the world of Ersatz is disposable, even life as we witness the main character gleefully deflate his rival, highlight the vacuous nature of a consumerist world. Nothing has value, and the humorous nature of the film means that we are amused rather than moved by the protagonist's downfall.
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| Zagreb Film's Ersatz (Surogat) |
The Hand makes good use of visual metaphors to emphasize its message. The hand undoubtedly represents the state, while its manipulation of the sculptor character unmistakably depicts the control over the Czech arts industry at the time. The very use of stop motion animation further enforces the image of the artist literally being a puppet on a string. The cage in which the puppet is placed to create his sculpture of the hand symbolises censorship, while on the other hand the clay pots which the sculptor lovingly creates could be seen as artistic freedom and creativity, which are gradually crushed and destroyed. The puppet's face, which is for the most part blank and expressionless, acts as a mask, hiding his true self and emotions from the intimidating hand, which unnervingly flits between flattery and force to bend the protagonist to its will.
Although it would be unlikely for The Hand to be seen by western audiences at the time, both films are universally understandable thanks to the lack of dialogue. Ersatz relies on a nonsensical series of noises rather than recognisable words, yet their tone conveys the intention, while Trnka's characters never utter a sound, using only their movements. The high quality of animation in both shorts ensures that their powerful messages are not lost in translation.
