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The Pied Piper [Krysař] (1986)

Even without the rodents, Hamelin is a den of greed and debauchery. Jiří Barta's evocative retelling of the classic legend immerses the viewer in a world of cruelty. The town is an industrious place, rising each morning like clockwork and carrying out repetitive tasks. But it is populated by people motivated by one thing: material wealth. Haggling can turn into a brawl, and vendors carry out petty little acts, whether stealing back the flour they "sold" or modifying jewelry to inflict injury. Rats arrive as a sort of divine retribution, industrious in their own sense as they wreak havoc and steal the wealth everyone venerates above all else. There is only one glimmer of purity in Hamelin in the form of a pious, soft-spoken woman. She resembles a china doll whereas everyone else is a caricature hewn from clay and wood. Perhaps the ultimate testimony of her character is that she connects with the mysterious Pied Piper who arrives to balance the scales. Hamelin's rescinding of their bounty promised him is a rude rebuffing, but it's the debauched murder of this woman which pushes him over the edge. Rather than with the original, revenge happens against the villagers themselves, driving them to the same fate as the rats. There would be no space for children in a community this greedy, after all.

Evoking German Expressionism, Barta crafts a clockwork hell where beauty is rarely glimpsed in flashes of nature. An earthy palette and twisting, distorted perspective render Hamelin a nightmare, a vortex of iniquity. But there's a humor to it as well: gibberish dialogue gives key characters instant character, from the foppish tailor to the boorish jeweler to the psychotic butcher. The coin-minter... yeah. The Piper himself feels like a classic Tim Burton character, sinister yet tragic. I CAN FIX HIM!

THE RULES

SIP

A guild insignia appears onscreen.

Gears turning.

A mouse runs off with something.

BIG DRINK

Push in on a minted coin.

The Piper starts to play his flute.

#drinking games #the pied piper #jiří barta #czech cinema #horror #folk horror #drama #animation