Surviving Life (Theory and Practice)

Surviving Life (Theory and Practice)

Year: 2010

Runtime: 105 mins

Language: Czech

Director: Jan Švankmajer

ComedyFantasyDramaAnimation

Eugene, an aging man, lives a split existence—one grounded in reality, the other in a vivid dreamscape. Seeking insight, he consults a psychoanalyst who attempts to decode his nightly visions. Eventually, Eugene learns to enter his dream world voluntarily, uncovering memories of his childhood and the true story of his parents.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) (2010)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) (2010). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

The City (Paper-cutout world)

The film unfolds in a stylized city that feels more like a dream than a real location. Rendered as a meticulous paper-cutout world, it hosts Evžen's colossal egg moment and Milada's waking-then-dream interruption. The setting favors a sly, contemplative mood over conventional action, merging everyday urban life with surreal imagery.

🗺️ Surreal setting 🏙️ Urban dreamscape

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 10:17

Main Characters – Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) (2010)

Meet the key characters of Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) (2010), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Milada (Zuzana Kronerová)

Evžen's wife, who grows suspicious of his nocturnal life and eventually confronts the dream-world liaison. She represents pragmatism and relational loyalty, even as she steps into the dream world herself.

💑 Relationship 🧠 Internal conflict 🕵️‍♀️ Investigation

Dr. Holubová (Daniela Bakerová)

Psychoanalyst who interprets Evžen's dreams through Freudian and Jungian frameworks, guiding the discussion of symbolism and meaning within the dreamscape.

🧠 Psychology 💬 Analysis 🗝️ Symbolism

Superego (Emília Došeková)

An elderly homeless woman who embodies the superego, appearing in the dream world as a moral voice and recurring figure.

🪞 Moral compass 🗣️ Inner voice

Milan (Václav Helšus)

Evžen's dream father figure who confronts him in the dream; his presence, resembling Evžen, culminates in a fatal accident within the dream sequence.

👨 Father ⚰️ Death

Fikejz (Miroslav Vrba)

A photographer whose picture links Evžen to his past and helps reveal a broader family history behind the dreams.

📷 Photographer 🧭 Clue

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 10:17

Major Themes – Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) (2010)

Explore the central themes of Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) (2010), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

💭 Dreams

Dreams drive the plot as Evžen's nocturnal journeys blur into daylight. The dream world spills into his waking life, shaping relationships and prompting reckless choices. Lucid dreaming becomes both a tool for insight and a trap that traps him between two worlds.

🪞 Identity

The story probes dual identities: Evžen's waking self and a parallel life with Evženie that unsettles his marriage to Milada. These parallel existences complicate loyalty and self-perception, making it hard to tell who he truly is. Past memories and dream logic challenge the boundary between real and imagined.

🧠 Psychoanalysis

Dr. Holubová analyzes Evžen's symbols through Freudian and Jungian frameworks, grounding the imagery in psychological theory. The investigation exposes connections to childhood memories and buried traumas, including a mother who harmed herself and a father figure who died. The dream-work links personal history to present behavior, suggesting inner life governs outer events.

🌊 Survival

The final bathtub sequence casts water as a test of endurance across dream and reality. Evženie's instruction to swim through the red, sea-like water symbolizes resilience and belonging to two worlds. The ending offers a fragile note of hope: to live is to navigate both dream and life.

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 10:17

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Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Surreal psychoanalytic dream journeys like in Surviving Life (Theory and Practice)

Films that explore the unconscious mind through surreal, symbolic dreamscapes.If you enjoyed the dreamlike exploration of the psyche in Surviving Life (Theory and Practice), you'll find similar movies here. These films use surrealism and non-linear narratives to delve into the unconscious mind, memory, and identity, often featuring therapy or self-analysis as a central theme.

surrealdreamlikeintrospectiveunsettlingpsychologicalsymbolictherapeutic

Narrative Summary

Stories in this thread follow characters on a journey into their own minds, often guided by therapy or a personal crisis. The plot unfolds through a series of symbolic visions or dreams that progressively reveal a hidden truth about the protagonist's past, leading to a confrontation with painful memories and a fractured sense of self.

Why These Movies?

These films are grouped together because they share a core premise: using the visual and narrative language of dreams to conduct a deep, often melancholic, psychoanalysis of a character. They prioritize symbolic meaning over conventional plotting and create a distinct, reflective mood.

Bittersweet excavations of painful memory like in Surviving Life (Theory and Practice)

Character-driven stories where uncovering the past brings a fragile, bittersweet resolution.For viewers who appreciated the heavy emotional weight and bittersweet conclusion of Surviving Life (Theory and Practice), this collection highlights movies about characters confronting childhood trauma or parental loss. These stories focus on the painful but necessary process of remembering to achieve a fragile peace.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves a slow, deliberate uncovering of a repressed childhood memory, often related to parental figures or a seminal tragic event. The protagonist's journey is one of avoidance, discovery, and eventual, reluctant acceptance. The resolution acknowledges the pain of the past while offering a glimmer of hope through understanding, resulting in a bittersweet emotional tone.

Why These Movies?

These movies share a specific emotional arc: a heavy, melancholic tone driven by the excavation of trauma, a slow and reflective pacing that mirrors the difficulty of remembering, and a concluding feeling that is bittersweet rather than purely bleak or happily resolved.

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Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) Summary

Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) Timeline

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Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) Timeline

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