Arguably the artistic pinnacle of Zeman’s career, this endlessly creative work featuring an eclectic range of visual effect techniques sees the titular hero serenade us with his grand, incredulous adventures.

---

---

Endlessly creative and at times mind-boggling as to how the film was made, The Fabulous Baron Munchausen represents what could be the artistic pinnacle of Karel Zeman’s body of work. 

The Czech director who dazzled with the international breakthrough Invention for Destruction (1958) followed up with a film that is a showcase of an eclectic range of visual effect techniques that he has dabbled with before, only now further amplified and maximalised with the clear intention of wowing audiences. 

This might come at the expense of plot and characterisation, which operate in a workmanlike fashion to move things along, but never deep enough to warrant any meaningful reflection on the antics of these fantabulous characters. 

The Baron Munchausen serenades us with his grand adventures, which are fantastical and incredulous, as we begin with the Man on the Moon (a cosmonaut named Tonik) whom he encounters and brings back to Earth. 

“I cast my hat out into the universe, let it greet those who are on their way from Earth.”

Later, we see skirmishes with the Turkish army as the latter chases the duo after saving a captive princess.  These battle scenes are some of the most inventive ever created, a hybrid of live-action and animation with innovative use of coloured filters and dyes (in particular, the cloudy red emulsions signal passionate love amidst a bloody war). 

Munchausen, like all of Zeman’s concoctions, is lovingly—and painstakingly—handmade with the director also having fun with situational humour that harbours back to the golden age of silent cinema, such as the scenes involving a chess game or a man hitting a gong. 

At a cursory level, the film is a veiled attempt at making light of Man’s inclination for war and aggression, which is why it seems living on the Moon is so much more peaceful.  Look out for what Zeman does with a fired cannonball—what imagination and absurdity!   

Grade: B+

---

Trailer: