There are many original elements about this film. The first one is the story, which deviates from the original, or better said digs into its original meaning, to offer a social allegory. Barta's Hamelin is a greedy, glutton and lusty male-dominated society - a kind of Sodom and Gomorrah. The piper is the punisher and redemptor, and the catalyst necessary for human renewal. The children are only seen at the end.
The second element of originality is its language... which is onomatopoeic: sounds, grunts, mumblings and gibbering, perfectly understandable by anybody in the world. I found it hilarious!
The third element of originality is the visual style of the movie, traditional and innovative at the same time, very odd and very artistic. Hamelin's backgrounds, architecture and interiors are made of dark carved wood, similar to the ones you find in some Renaissance cathedral choir chairs. The overall design is German expressionist in its design, which is noticeable in the diagonal and curved collapsing lines, unbalanced proportions and oniric elements, and the general darkness and oppressiveness of the space and atmosphere. On the contrary, the luminous colourful paintings used for the landscape are bucolic and very artistic, the sort of images you find in Medieval Gothic Books of Hours. They are human spaces, associated to the most human characters in the story, and a complete counterpoint to the rest. I found in the movie very Bergman's, with the sort of vibe, feeling, and themes one can find in movies like The Seventh Seal or the Virgin Spring.
The third element of originality is the design of the characters. Most of the Hamelin dwellers are wood puppets, with mobile parts and fabric clothing; they have angular-faces and are thin and tall. The Piper is also a wood puppet, but it looks very different - a mixture of walking skeleton, a Goth band member, and an apocalyptic angel. The only two good characters and pure souls in the city -the lady living in the city outskirts and the fisherman- are very refined sweet and delicate wooden puppets. The rest of the characters are the rats, real ones (more like big mice!), which are as big the human characters, naughty monsters as greedy as the humans, which move rapidly and awkwardly.
The music is terrific - a mix of dark classic pieces and rock sounds with the ethereal sound of the flute as only breaker.
The ending is great, and has nothing to do with the traditional story. It couldn't be otherwise, as the movie is an allegorical reflection of Society's sins. The title in Czech means rat trapper, which refers to the rats in Hamelin and also to its dwellers, which are a pest as much as the rats are, and the piper also traps.
I found annoying that some general scenes -landscapes shots, movement of groups- were repeated over and over.
The film is not for small kids because there are too many adult explicit elements in it: lust, rape, killing of animals, stealing, death, and the general nastiness of the dwellers of the city.
Krysar is an amazing movie, but also a bit freaky and grotesque! Dare to watch it.
