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Invention for Destruction
Karel Zeman's wildly inventive take on the stories of Jules Verne, told with a ground-breaking, pre-'steampunk' combination of live-action, animation and design.
Director: Karel Zeman
Overview
Karel Zeman's heartfelt homage to Jules Verne's wonderful tales of science and adventure, and a valiant cry against man's propensity for self-destruction by the ‘Czech Méliès’, who has been a profound influence on generations of filmmakers.
Originally released to huge success in 1960 as The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, it tells the story of the brilliant but naïve scientist Roch, whose inventions are coveted by the power-hungry Count Artigas wanting to take over the world. When pirates in a submarine kidnap Roch, taking him to Artigas’s laboratory to develop a superweapon, it is up to Roch’s assistant Hart to warn an unsuspecting world to rally and defend itself. Wildly inventive, and breaking new ground in its combination of live-action, animation and design, Invention for Destruction created a 'steampunk' aesthetic decades ahead of its time with Zdeněk Liška being responsible for the innovative music, from elegant harpsichord to foursquare fairground waltz and beyond.
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