Invention for Destruction—thought to be the most successful of all Czech films—is also one of the most visually inventive movies ever made. A sci-fi adventure filled with submarines, schooners, hot air balloons, pirates, a supergun, underwater sword fights, shark attacks, and a giant octopus, it celebrates the power and beauty of the natural world with an entirely unnatural visual style. Karel Zeman was a gifted director who combined animation with live action in his films, melding action with poetry. He was partial to the stories of Jules Verne, and Invention for Destruction adapts largely from Facing the Flag (1896). It tells the story of two scientists kidnapped by a would-be dictator living inside an extinct volcano. He tries to use their search for the “secret of matter” for his own dastardly plans, but in the end their devotion to humankind wins out.
The aesthetics of the film are so stunning, however, that it is easy to forget about the plot. The set design is uniquely styled on the Victorian line engravings by Léon Benett and Édouard Riou, used to illustrate Verne’s work. The film combines a full range of animated techniques—stop motion, cut- outs, traditional—alongside live action, found footage, matte painting and miniature special effects. All these are integrated into a fascinating coherence by the equalizing force of linear hatching, giving the effect of a 19th century print come to life. The effect is magical, as the images encompass the play between two- and three-dimensional space. The contrast of old-world elegance and early technology is charming (chandeliers even in the submarine’s engine room), but perhaps best of all is a newsreel screened from an early form of projection akin to the electrotachyscope—with images of camels on roller skates!
Jennifer Lynde Barker