David Lynch doesn't have anything to do with Little Otik, even though the film could be described as his off-the-wall Log Lady from Twin Peaks giving birth to the monstrosity from his Eraserhead.  Yeah, Otik is odd and dreamlike, just like many of Lynch's films have been, but that shouldn't come as much of a surprise to fans of Czech director Jan Svankmajer, who is, literally, a member of something called the Prague Surrealist Group.

Svankmajer, known best for his bizarre stop-frame animation, also produced and wrote the script for Otik, basing it on a 19th-century Czech fairytale written by Karel Jaromir Erben.  The story is about an aging couple that desperately wants children but are unable to conceive one on their own. Otik opens in a Prague hospital, where Bozena Horakova (Veronika Zilková) has just learned her latest attempt to get knocked up by husband Karel (Jan Hartl) has failed.

The couple finally moves from the bustling big city, where it seems everyone has a baby, to an isolated apartment building that reminded me a lot of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Delicatessen and Amélie.  While digging in the yard of their new home, Karel unearths a tree stump that kind of resembles an infant.  For some reason, he decides to clean it up, bring it inside and present it to Bozena as their child.  Because she isn't the most mentally stable person in the world, Bozena believes the tree stump really is her baby, which comes as a great relief to the family cat, who was the previous victim of her maternal wackiness.

Confusing a tree stump with a baby is one thing, but Bozena takes insanity to a whole new level when she decides to tell everyone she's pregnant.  She fakes morning sickness, insists on eating pickles and ice cream, and even carefully chooses the pillows she plans on stuffing under her shirt to represent various stages of pregnancy.  Because she's so damn happy, Karel doesn't slap her back into reality, but almost encourages his wife to carry out the fantasy (which demonstrates one more example of what men will do to shut women up).

Of course, things abruptly change when Bozema pretends to give birth and the tree stump (named Otik) comes to life.  That's right; I said "comes to life." But that's not even the strangest part.  Otik has an insatiable appetite, too.  Bozema and Karel have a difficult time keeping his little wooden belly full, so Otik takes to eating whatever (and whoever) he can find.

Svankmajer's surreal touches include a having Karel see babies in very unusual places (inside watermelon, being sold from a street vendor's cart wrapped in newspaper), as well as a perverted octogenarian chasing a young neighbor girl (Kristina Adamcová) who is well-versed in sexual dysfunction and is beginning to notice striking similarities between the Horakovas and a story from her fairytale book.  Best of all is the year's top line from a film, which has Bozema scolding Karel about avoiding his son, yelling, "When was the last time you varnished him?"  Maybe something was lost in the translation, but, damn, that's some funny stuff.

Svankmajer fans may be disappointed at the lack of stop-frame animation, which doesn't occur until about halfway into the film when Otik is born. That's a pretty long wait, especially for something based on a fairytale (imagine an over-two-hour version of The Three Little Pigs).  Otik runs about 20 to 30 minutes too long, which is a shame because it had the potential to be an amazing cult classic if things were a little bit tighter.  Recommended for people who enjoyed Freeway and Freeway 2.

2:05 –

but contains nudity, graphic violence and numerous disturbing images