Jan Svankmajer's stop-motion films are ultra-bizarre and often creepy. Some of them are also pretty funny--and "The Male Game" is also a tad creepy.
The film stars the same actor in every role. He plays a guy at home watching a soccer game, the players on the field AND the referee. However, this game ain't normal in any sense! The players often are giant cutouts that move about using stop-motion. And, in closeups, they are clay. Why the closeups? Because the game features a unique way to score--by ripping the opponents' faces apart! Scissors, a child's train, bottles--anything goes as the clay faces are torn to pieces! It's all very surreal as well as a wonderful commentary about the brutality of the sport and the fans. Weird but very enjoyable and the stop-motion was done quite well--as you'd expect from Svankmajer. Not his best, but quite good.
