‘The Cybernetic Grandma’: Jiří Trnka’s haunting sci-fi gem
Often lovingly referred to as ‘the Walt Disney of Eastern Europe’, Czech artist Jiří Trnka played a significant role in the evolution of 20th-century animation. While Trnka’s approach to animation didn’t resemble Disney’s at all, he earned the comparison because of the immeasurable impact his works had on the frameworks of contemporary cinema. Throughout his career, Trnka explored multiple genres – including the magical domain of animated sci-fi.
Born in Pilsen, Trnka was fascinated by the world of performance art from a young age and made his own puppets from wood, with which he created shows for his friends. The art of puppetry deeply influenced his artistic sensibilities, especially because he studied under the guidance of renowned Czech puppeteer Josef Skupa. Trnka’s unique background was one of the reasons why his films stood out, featuring imagery that was unlike anything else.
While Trnka’s filmography is full of notable works that deserve the attention of cinephiles all over the world, one of his most interesting films is the 1962 stop-motion short, The Cybernetic Grandma. Set in a dystopian future that has completely integrated with technological advancements, the film tells the story of a girl who finds herself under the supervision of a mechanical grandma, isolated in a world that is quickly forgetting what it means to be human.
Over the years, there have been many memorable films that have explored humanity’s relationship with technology in beautiful ways. Ranging from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey to Spike Jonze’s Her, some of the most accomplished filmmakers have managed to translate our manufactured loneliness to the cinematic medium. However, nobody ever did it in the disturbingly sweet way as Trnka’s haunting The Cybernetic Grandma.
When it was made, Trnka’s film probably seemed pretty outlandish because the idea of talking robots was straight out of pulpy sci-fi novels. However, for modern audiences, The Cybernetic Grandma represents something entirely different since most of us are familiar with the unsettling mannerisms of AI software programs that pretend to be human. Because the short is told through the eyes of a child, the human-robot dichotomy seems particularly horrifying.
Inevitably, the scene that is often referred to is the disturbing encounter between the robotic grandmother and the girl, but there’s another moment that is undoubtedly the most tragic. On her journey back home, the little girl watches a televised, automated performance of a musical masterpiece in her pod, a performance that is mathematically calculated to precision. It indicates the emergence of a society that has forgotten how to live, discarding the imperfect perfection of art once and for all.
Watch the film below.
