Color, 1977, 107 mins. 10 secs.
Directed by Oldřich Lipský
Starring Michal Docolomanský, Rudolf Hrusínský, Milos Kopecký, Květa Fialová
Deaf Crocodile (Blu-ray) (US RA HD), Bohemia (Blu-ray) (Czech Republic R0 HD), Epcott (DVD) (Japan R1 NTSC) / WS (1.66:1) (16:9)
Possibly the daffiest Czech director ever, Oldřich Lipský started off way before the Prague Spring but is best known for the cycle of wild, surrealist comedies he turned out starting with the western cinematic collage Lemonade Joe in 1964. That film was his first collaboration with writer and animator Jiří Brdečka, with whom he also worked on 1981's The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians. In between they collaborated on the crazed Adéla ještě nevečeřela, whose title has been translated as Adela Hasn't Had Her Dinner Yet, Dinner for Adele, or in its current U.S. form, Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet. Outside of that trilogy, Lipský made a number of other outstanding films including Long Live Ghosts!, Four Murders Are Enough, Darling, and I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen, solidifying him as a cult director whose work still keeps reaching wider audiences. On the heels of its extensive release of Mysterious Castle, Deaf Crocodile released Adela on Blu-ray in the U.S. in 2024, introducing its quirky charms to a stateside audience for the first time since its slim art house run in theaters.
At the end of the 19th century, renowned and gadget-laden New York City detective Nick Carter (Dočolomanský) is summoned to Prague by Countess Thun (Fialová) to find a missing dog with the aid of local commissioner Ledvina (Hrušínský). The meandering trail leads them to a string of murders being committed by Baron von Kratzmar (Kopecký), a nefarious botanist also known as The Gardener who faked his death years ago while being pursued by Carter. Now he has a vendetta list of those he wants to abduct and feed to his man-eating plant, Adela, who gets alerted to her feeding time by a gramophone record.
Colorful and wildly unpredictable, this film is a very distinctive viewing experience that even throws in a meta aspect with Carter's adventures, including his dispatching of The Gardener, famously serialized for public pulp reading. You also get some gorgeous animation sequences, while the attention to quirky period detail is beautifully rendered and would make this a fine double feature with anything by Karel Zeman or The Assassination Bureau. On top of that, Adela herself -- a striking blend of puppetry and animation whose tendrils can even serve tea in one great bit -- is the creation of the legendary Jan Švankmajer, whose work later broke through in the U.S. on a much larger scale. The idea of a meat-eating plant had obviously been around on film since Roger Corman's legendary The Little Shop of Horrors, in turn a strong influence on the Harry Novak sexploitation comedy Please Don't Eat My Mother!, but this one is a very different beast with an elaborate creation that can still make your eyes widen.
Occasionally released on VHS and DVD around the world, Adela made its English-subtitled debut on Blu-ray in 2017 as a Czech Republic release featuring a pristine restoration from Prague's Národní Filmový Archiv. The DTS-HD MA Czech mono audio sounds great on that release, with optional Czech subtitles provided as well. Also included are a new trailer and four short films, all with English subtitle options: Carnivorous Plants (Masožravé rostliny) (13m11s), Old Prague (Stará Praha) (3m53s), Encounter (Setkání) (5m13s), Wenceslas Square (Václavské náměstí) (12m43s), and Headhunters (Lovci lebek) (16m38s). In 2024, Deaf Crocodile released its own Blu-ray edition that marks the film's first U.S. home video release. Though it appears to be from the same scan from the camera negative as the earlier release (with the same restoration notes at the beginning), it actually looks significantly better with punchier and more robust color timing that makes the reds and golds in particular really shine here. The audio was already perfect and still sounds great here, with optional English subtitles provided. A new audio commentary by the reliable team of Irena Kovarova and film critic and screenwriter Tereza Brdečková (Brdečka's daughter) is a great listen including some welcome context for the film's spoofing of familiar Czech attitudes and personality types, Brdečka's life and significant work, and the contributions of Švankmajer who was very much committed to doing his own thing. Also included are four beautifully restored Brdečka animated shorts: 1963's Badly Drawn Hen (Špatně namalovaná slepice) (13m40s), 1966's Forester's Song (Do lesíčka na čekanou) (9m35s), 1975's What Did I Not Tell The Prince (Co jsem princi neřekla) (9m33s), and 1974's The Miner's Rose (Horníkova růže) (8m5s). The deluxe limited edition also comes with a 60-page booklet featuring an essay by Walter Chaw about the political implications of local films before this and the way the light tone balances a darker message, a thorough breakdown of the film's cultural commentary and parodic aspects by Jonathan Owen, and illustrated excerpts from the 2015 book JIŘÍ BRDEČKA: Life-Animation-Magic.
Deaf Crocodile (Blu-ray)
Bohemia (Blu-ray)
Reviewed on October 16, 2024