"Don Juan" is a rather odd film of Jan Svankmajer, and it came at a point in his career where he had not yet developed the standard of his later works. Normally, stop-motion animation was his triumph and this film is done in live action; surrealism was his main focus but this short is rather straightforward. Certainly one cannot say that it is outside of his area: the visual style is his and the camerawork is the abstract kind one finds throughout his output. However, despite these major pluses, the film's story is incomprehensible except for those who know it and the execution is dull for the first ten minutes.
it, it leaves lots of confusion.
I myself do not know the story of Don Juan at all despite having heard of it, and that was the big road block keeping me from fully enjoying this. Being Czech, Svankmajer's adaptation is spoken entirely in Czech-Slovak, leading the majority of viewers today to have absolutely no clue what is going on. As such, the story's enjoyment is reduced to its active moments, such as the sword-fight and the ghost scene, which are the highlights. This does not mean that the filmmaker was at all a poor storyteller, for all we know this could have been a great and witty adaptation. Sadly, because we cannot understand what is being said, it loses much of its power.
Several things make up for the incomprehensible plot. Visually, the film is beautiful as the ornate puppets and scenery used are works of art in their own respects, and the music is wonderful and brings the tale to life. It is worth seeing, but action-wise remains a little boring due to the fact the average person cannot understand the story or the presumably brilliant dialogue.
