Russian Animation: Struggle of Love in a Dream

Surrealism is always more disturbing to me than anything I’ve ever seen in the horror genre, which I think is due to the lack of conventional storytelling that we see in a typical slasher flick or monster movie. The above animated film Struggle of Love in a Dream (Hypn-eroto-machia —Гипнэротомахия) is a good example of how a lack of coherent structure itself can be somewhat chilling. Andrei Svislotsky was inspired by the paintings of Salvador Dali when he directed this film in 1992, however I also sense the chaos of the post-cold war under the surface the artwork.