Surviving Life (Theory and Practice)

The film opens with a wry, self-deprecating introduction by director Jan Svankmajer, who gently reminds us that what follows is not live-action but a meticulously crafted paper-cutout world. This opening sets a sly, dreamlike tone that invites quiet contemplation rather than simple spectacle.

In the city, Evžen carries a colossal egg, a surreal image that immediately disturbs everyday life. When a woman mistakes him for a man named Milan, the moment becomes a doorway to possibility. Milada, Zuzana Kronerová, is drawn into the moment as the egg teeters and then rolls away, and a casual coffee plan with her, and with the enigmatic Eva, seems almost within reach. Yet the realidad snaps back when Evžen is jolted awake in bed by his wife Milada, revealing that the encounter was only a dream.

Haunted by the dream’s allure, Evžen longs for a reunion with the mysterious woman. He follows a self-imposed ritual: he overeats on the advice of a coworker to spark a new dream, even if it makes him physically ill. When sleep returns, the woman reappears, now going by Eliza, and she invites him to her world. He travels with her to her dwellings, where he dances and notices the scars on her wrists—remnants of a suicide attempt. The dreamscape is populated with other figures who will recur in his nocturnal journeys: Eliza’s son Peter; an elderly homeless woman who embodies the superego, a figure brought to life by Emília Došeková; and Peter’s father Milan, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Evžen.

Seeking insight, Evžen turns to psychoanalytic theory through the lens of Dr. Holubová, Daniela Bakerová, who examines his dreams in terms of Freudian and Jungian symbolism. In a deeper dive, Evžen returns to the dreamscape to discover that Peter has vanished and the dream woman—now named Emily—has no memory of her son. The stakes intensify when Milan confronts him in the dream and, in a fatal accident, trips over Peter’s blocks and dies after striking his head.

As the lines between waking life and dream life begin to blur, Evžen pursues lucid dreaming with a renewed energy. He even finances his nocturnal explorations by winning lottery money and buying a book on lucid dreaming. His day job suffers for his distraction: he is fired for reading something unrelated to work. Delving into his late mother’s belongings, he discovers items that Emily also owns—a red dress and a crocodile-skin bag—hinting at a deeper connection between his past and his dream life. By following the methods described in the book, he realizes he can induce a dream state every time he sleeps. He rents a private apartment to dream without interruption and returns nightly to Evženie, the woman who has now taken up residence in his imagination. The pair even conceive a child within the dream world.

Milada grows suspicious of her husband’s apparent infidelity and follows him to Dr. Holubová’s practice. After Evžen leaves, Milada confronts the doctor and, upon learning about the parallel life her husband leads in his dreams, ventures into the dream world herself to meet Evženie and scold her for “stealing” Evžen.

Back in the waking world, Evžen discovers a photograph of Evženie, Peter, and Milan with the photographer, Fikejz. Miroslav Vrba pieces together that the photo shows a younger version of Evžen and his family, revealing a history his waking self had never fully understood: his father died just as Milan did, and his mother slit her wrists in the bath, echoing the dream’s imagery.

Armed with this truth, he returns home with Milada and faces a crucial choice: between Evženie and his real-life wife. He chooses Evženie. Yet the closing vision remains intensely symbolic: in Evženie’s dream, a giant Evženie slits her wrists in a dramatic, bloody bathtub scene. He breaks down in tears as Evženie places him in the bath and teaches him how to swim through the red, seaborne water—an instruction that speaks to survival in a life where the boundary between dream and reality is forever porous. The film ends on a note of fragile resilience, suggesting that to live is to navigate between two intertwined worlds, and that love may endure even as the line between imagination and life dissolves.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:55