Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Thanks for the memories!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

a little potter. and his plant. a huge hand. and a statue. one of the most impressive animation. for the simplicity of great art. and for its status of warning. against totalitarian regime. about the resistance against it. about forms of freedom. and its price. so, more than a film. a document. and a testimony. about art as form of free speech in dark ages. this detail does "Ruka " special. a film about fragility. and about its delicate force. as inspired support. for reflection.

"Ruka" or "The Hand" is an 18-minute short film from Czechoslovakia and this one came out in 1965, which means it had its 50th anniversary last year. It was the last directorial effort by Czechoslovakian filmmaker Jirí Trnka and today we know that it was probably also his biggest success because of the BAFTA nomination it scored. It lost to Norman McLaren's entry by the way. Anyway, if you have seen some other works by Trnka, you will realize that his style is obvious and you can easily identify him as the man behind it. Recognition value is always something positive, but sadly, in my opinion, it's almost the only positive aspect here. It's about a potter who life gets changed considerably for the worse when a big white hand (glove?) appears in his home and starts to harass and bully the poor little guy. So yeah, you see it is an absurd film. That's nothing negative necessarily though if the movie manages to deliver in other areas than realism then. but this one really does not. The animation is okay, but the story is way too long and dragging, even for a film that stays under 20 minutes. There may be references about the filmmaker's country in terms of life, society and maybe also politics, but you won#t get these unless you really know about the history. The good thing here is that there is no dialogue, so you won't need subtitles if you don't speak the Czech language. ItÄs all about sound effects from the audible perspective. But is it really a good thing? I'm not sure and I don't recommend the watch.

My discovery of the cinema of Jan Svankmajer opened My eyes to a whole tradition of Czech animation, of which Jirí Trnka was a pioneer. His Ruka is one of the finest, most technically-impressive animated movies I've ever seen.A potter wakes up and waters his plant. Then he goes about making a pot. But in comes the huge hand which crashes the pot and demands that the potter make a statue of itself. He casts the hand out, but soon it returns and imprisons him in a bird cage where he's forced to sculpt a stone hand. He sets about it, fainting from exhaustion, but eventually completes the task.In a marvellous sequence of metacinema, the potter uses a candle to burn his visible puppet strings, which keep him in thrall, and he escapes back home. He shuts himself in and is accidentally killed by his own beloved plant when it falls on his head.This movie doesn't hide the fact it's pure animation, unlike modern movies that strive to be realistic (why?). The hand, for instance, is clearly someone's hand in a glove. Everything else is clay. Strings are visible and are part of the narrative, making it a precursor of the movie Strings. The atmosphere is eerie: that hand going after the little potter managed to instill more dread in me than many horror movies combined.The movie is obvious but it avoids being totally manipulative for its simplicity. it's a fable about artistic freedom and tyranny which can't help winning the heart and mind of anyone who holds freedom as a natural right.

An absolutely brilliant film! Jiri Trnka, the master of puppet animation, confronts totalitarianism in this, his final, film. It would be banned by the Communist Czechoslovakian government (at the time), despite taking the country's highest animation award.In this dark and entertaining short film, an artist attempts to create a new pot for his favourite plant. He happily makes his creations while dreaming that his plant will grow to be a beautiful rose. All of a sudden, he here's a knock at the door, and in comes this giant omnipotent hand, that tries to force the artist to make statues in it's likeness. The artist resists as best he can, but he eventually becomes overwhelmed by the constant attempts, by the hand, to force him to conform. He becomes brainwashed; an intellectual zombie. At this point the hand attaches strings to the artist, puts him in a cage, and uses him to make hand statues. All the while glorifying the artist's work and awarding him with medals and honours.The artist's inner lust to be able to express himself freely is what helps him prevail over his indoctrination, and enables him escape his prison, whether it be literal or in his mind, and return to his home where he now must live in constant fear of the wrath of the omnipotent hand. He shuts himself in, thinking he is out of the reach of the almighty hand, but in the process he puts his plant and pot up high, hoping it is out of the reach of the hand, only to have it fall on his head and kill him. The artist is inevitably destroyed by his own creation. All because of the constant fear he had to live with once he escaped the hand's strings. Once dead, the hand paints the artist as a great person, a national hero. Unfortunately not in the circumstances or for the reasons that the artist would like to be remembered.Trnka's condemnation of Totalitarian society, and their lack of right for free expression is dark, damning and an amazingly animated. It is no wonder the government banned it as this is the sort of media that people admire, and would perhaps even listen to. That was obviously not acceptable. An amazing example of an artists civil disobedience and the impact it can have. And still quite relevant today for many parts of the world, from the US to the middle east. A must see and definite 10 out of 10! Talk about going out with a bang!