Orbis Pictus

From Slovakian director Martin Sulík, Orbis Pictus is a strange film that follows a teenage girl, Tereza, on a fanciful journey as she's sent home from boarding school with a letter for her mother. As she travels in a childish and innocent manner through the Slovakian countryside, she has numerous strange encounters with a variety of people, such as a well-to-do mobster, a man marrying his brother's much older widow, a famous singer (whose fame Tereza is entirely ignorant of), an old woman buried up to her waist in the ground and a man employed seemingly to burn brand new clothes. All these people have stories to impart upon Tereza, and as the encounters become more and more surreal it becomes apparent that, as we see the film from a child's perspective, here a child's fantasy and imagination are melded with reality.

On the surface Orbis Pictus presents itself as a quirky and serene film about a young girl journeying in ignorance of the world around her. Yet there's an underlying sense of menace here, as through the various encounters Tereza's innocence is tested against a darker side of reality that, while only hinted at, is a disturbing presence all the same and sets up perfectly for the film's last revelations as we learn the contents of the letter and as Tereza finally comes face to face with her mother. Much like the bulk of the film, it's an entirely ambiguous ending, but one that carries perfectly the film's theme of reality versus imagination and innocence.

In Slovakia, the sixteen year-old Terezka (Dorotka Nvotová) is discharged from her school with a letter to her mother. Along her surrealistic journey to find her mother, Terezka entwines reality and fantasy and meets a man that is hired to burn clothes; a woman buried on the ground; a young bride that is marrying the forty and something year- old widow of his brother to support her family as a tradition in their village; her younger brother that is intern in a special school; a decadent TV comedian and his wife; a powerful mobster in the kitchen of a restaurant; one lover of her mother in her former address; and finally her promiscuous mother that advises her to travel through the world.

"Orbis Pictus" discloses the surrealistic journey of the teenager Tereska in her quest to meet her mother. The reality and Tereska's fantasy are entwined in such way that it is not clear to understand what is real or imagination of the youngster. Therefore, the viewer shall not expect to clearly see the explanation of these two worlds. The story is ambiguous and sad but the innocence of Tereska is beautiful and her journey is very pleasant. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Ilusões de Órbita" ("Illusions of Orbit")

I went into the film not knowing much about it at all, and by the end I was quite exhilarated. Sulik and his writers give us story-telling at its very finest. The film plays like a fairy-tale, and like most fairy tales worth their salt, there's a layer of evil lurking below the innocent surface.

I have to disagree with the other user comment thus far (JM Laprise), not about the quality of the film, but more so its nature: this is certainly no feel-good film. Quite the contrary, I found it depressing. The concept of mixing reality with fantasy, and not vice versa, is rather ingenious, and it's executed very well here. I heartily recommend the film.

This is really one of my favourite movies. The film follows Teresa in her quest to find her mother. Doesn't sound particularly original, but the film is really great in that it takes place both within the "real world" and within Teresa's view of the world. I think to really enjoy this movie, you have to be the kind of person who doesn't feel the need to classify everything that happens as being "real" or "fantasy". Everything and everybody in this movie feels "real", even those things that couldn't really exist in the world we take for granted. In a sense, the director and the writer have managed to allow us to see things as they really are, not just as we see them or are used to seeing them. Teresa doesn't question the reality of the people and situations she encounters on her journey, and I never felt the need to either. There's an innocence in this movie that's really refreshing. I was smiling all through the movie, and I had this really good feeling about the world that lasted about a week after I saw it, where every once in a while I'd think about the movie and feel really nice inside. That's not something that happens to me very often, and I always have a special feeling for movies or books that manage to reach me in that way. I don't know how you reached this page, but if you haven't seen it, find some way to see it, call your Congressman, whatever...It's really worth it!