The Hand

Unreal. That a puppet can't show emotion? Come on. All it takes is a master to create it. Actually, the master. For me, the most impressive and economical metaphor of any totalitarianism, of all its horrors and machinations. This should be watched in history class when the 1950s are studied. But after all, Trnka's Hand is typical of many other time periods and regimes in the history of this planet. (25/01/2004)

Jiří Trnka brilliantly plays with the possibilities of the animated scene and the presence of a person, or rather a hand, in this film. The short film has a story, which is essential, but primarily it is a fantastic play with form, showing how something superior, almost supernatural, enters into animated film. The hand is simply a god, unfortunately. (16/02/2015)