THE LAST THEFT (Czechoslovakia/1987)

This 21-minute vampiric flick is included on a dvd called "Labyrinth of Darkness" which collects the 8 "auteur" films made by Jiri Barta. He is considered one of the world's most important figures in animation although several of his films also use live action and The Last Theft is completely live action. Barta's animations utilize paper cut-outs, drawings, mannequins, puppets, etc. One of his most interesting films, The Vanished World of Gloves, recreates the history of cinema by animating all types of handwear; there's a Chaplinesque chase comedy, a 30s melodrama, a WWII actioner, a sci-fi/monster flick, and homages to Bunuel's L'Age d'Or and Fellini's La Dolce Vita. Barta's most celebrated work is his version of The Pied Piper of Hamelin using wooden puppets and both stuffed rats and live ones. His version is a critique of consumerism and greed with a nifty twist at the end. But my favorite Barta film is the tale of a thief who breaks into a house and gets invited to a game of dice by four creepy ghost-like creatures sitting around a table. They entice him with money, wine and luxurious comforts. The thief ends up becoming their unwilling victim. The Last Theft augments its black & white photography with selectively applied color washes. It has no dialogue but features very effective use of sound and music. It's reminiscent of German Expressionist films like Murnau's Nosferatu and Lang's Mabuse trilogy. Jiri Barta is reportedly trying to obtain financing for a feature-length version of "The Golem".