That Jan Svankmajer's sense of humour happens to be violent, mischievous and rooted in the mysterious nostalgia of childhood, it's little wonder that he found his way to directing Punch and Judy. In this version, Judy manages to avoid her usual beatings as she doesn't even appear; instead, the character Joey (often depicted as a clown) features as Punch's antagonist.
Here, the love of Punch's life is a guinea pig, which he feeds by hand and strokes affectionately. Joey becomes equally enamoured with the animal and attempts to barter with Punch over its ownership until the two inevitably end up in a disagreement, leading to Punch attempting to beat Joey to death and stuff him into a coffin. Joey survives, however, and tries to kill Punch. All the while, in the background curious faces from newspapers and books act as interested observers in the violence, yet the guinea pig remains indifferent.
Both Punch and Joey end up dead, each destroying the other, neither getting the prised possession; the hands inside the puppets discard the puppet corpses and sink through holes in the table, like departing souls. Finally, the prize itself toddles off, forever indifferent, disappearing into a mouth -- the only one left alive is the guinea pig, uninterested in man's hapless self-destruction.
Here, the love of Punch's life is a guinea pig, which he feeds by hand and strokes affectionately. Joey becomes equally enamoured with the animal and attempts to barter with Punch over its ownership until the two inevitably end up in a disagreement, leading to Punch attempting to beat Joey to death and stuff him into a coffin. Joey survives, however, and tries to kill Punch. All the while, in the background curious faces from newspapers and books act as interested observers in the violence, yet the guinea pig remains indifferent.
Both Punch and Joey end up dead, each destroying the other, neither getting the prised possession; the hands inside the puppets discard the puppet corpses and sink through holes in the table, like departing souls. Finally, the prize itself toddles off, forever indifferent, disappearing into a mouth -- the only one left alive is the guinea pig, uninterested in man's hapless self-destruction.