This cut-out animated, absurd short seems to be about the futility
of humanity's insane craving to have absolute control over it's environment.
Of course, told by Svankmajer, things get turned around.
In the first part, "Wings", a man tries successfully to fly with bigger
and bigger wings, each time going further. This is the one thing that we really can't
do.
In the second part, "Whip", the man tries to tame a demonish animal, whipping
it so it will perform tricks. Eventually, the man is at the other end of the whip,
but he regains control. Of course, this "taming" is easier than it looks.
We get the idea that the animal is really in control, since it isn't trying to escape,
it seems rather bored by the whole thing, it forces the man to do some tricks, but
then gives back control, etc...
Click here for a 1 meg quicktime from part 3
In the third part, "House", the man is trying to build some shelter from
the enviroment, but keeps getting it wrong. He first finishes the house only to realize
that he forgot a door, tries unsuccessfully to break in, and starts over from scratch.
He then builds it from the inside, but forgot a door, so he can't get out. He starts
over. He never does get it right. This third part has a unique look, because rather
than animating cut-out images on a simple background, the "hole", or silhouette
of the man which was cut out, is animated over various paintings.