Oedipus complex theme in surrealist films

The Oedipus complex theme has been tackled in classical narrative films in which one learns about the psychological condition of the protagonist on the basis of his behaviour, actions and conversations. In surrealist films examining the same theme one learns about the protagonist's psychological condition in a different manner. Instead of focusing on a logical sequence of events, in those films we need to firstly focus on director's actions - frame selection, colour stylization and type of shot. Already on the basis of these elements one can learn something about the psychological condition. Furthermore, we need to follow individual, seemingly unconnected situations in which the character finds himself/herself. This is why situations allowing for an interpretation of a boy's relationship with his mother and father, problems of growing up, and the consequences of those problems will be thoroughly analysed. In order for family relations and consequences of those relations to be clearer, they are complemented with the presence of symbols. It is important to interpret each of them, having in mind the cooperation between those symbols and situations. The interpretation is not arbitrary if it is in line with the meaning of situations in which the character finds himself/herself. Situations and symbols make surrealist films unique and comprehensive in terms of the approach to the protagonist's mind. The paper uses the example of the films Long Live Death (Viva la Muerte, Fernando Arrabal, 1971), I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse (J' irai comme un cheval fou, Fernando Arrabal, 1973), Pastoral: To Die in the Country (Den-en ni shisu, Shuji Terayama, 1974), Holy Blood (Santa Sangre, Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1989), Leolo (Jean-Claude Lauzon, 1992), Brand upon the Brain! (Guy Maddin, 2006), and Surviving Life (Prezit suv) zivot, Jan Svankmajer, 2010).