Honoring a legacy

PraguePost:  Legendary director Karel Zeman gets a permanent collection in new museum

Just off the Charles Bridge, a museum has opened dedicated to the legacy of the director Karel Zeman, a pioneer in the art of special effects. Zeman's most famous film, 1955's Journey to the Beginning of Time, is still the most successful Czech movie ever, selling in 72 countries globally. The film tells the tale of four boys in a wooden boat who travel up the river of Time, passing various stages of the Earth's development, including the ages of cavemen and dinosaurs. His films continue to be used as subject material in schools across the world, and one can see Zeman's aesthetic reflected in the work of directors such as Terry Gilliam.

The museum's opening Oct. 6 was attended by Zeman's daughter, Ludmila, who is now a well-known film director in her own right. The museum displays include original drawings by Zeman and photographs of him, and even offers visitors the opportunity to try his cinematic tricks.

The exhibits map Zeman's career, from his first animation work and early live-action-short efforts in the 1940s to the great success he would enjoy with Baron Prášil, A Thousand and One Nights and others. The museum itself is laid out like a film set, allowing visitors a truly immersive artistic experience while they also get the education that comes with such an institution, providing a detailed look at Zeman's legacy for connoisseurs of it and newcomers to it alike.

There are detailed explanations accompanied by short cinematic clips illustrating how Zeman's mastery of special effects worked. For example, for Journey to the Beginning of Time - his first work to combine live action, animation and puppetry - there is in-depth explanation of how the prehistoric age was displayed realistically. Zeman's fastidiousness extended to creating a life-size stegosaurus.

Numerous clips from the film are broken down to demonstrate Zeman's great skill as an editor in seamlessly weaving together models, real-life action and matte paintings.

Zeman, who died of heart complications in 1989, once said, "I want my films to have humor and things that make you smile." A museum that allows visitors to sit astride one of the director's fantastic flying machines is a fitting tribute.

Laura Stevens