I was introduced to Jan Švankmajer by a psychiatrist rather than an animator and, in keeping with this, what I love about this film is the brilliant portrayal of human emotion.
It is an example of the medium and the message being perfectly in tune.
Švankmajer conveys sexual passion brilliantly. Through his inspired use of claymation he captures the sensation of losing track of the boundaries between your individual bodies, the moments of clarity that punctuate this and the feeling that your body has taken over and is expressing a more primitive drive, pushing your rational self to the side whilst it does so.
Similarly the animation captures the essence of the anger between the lovers as they, both literally & metaphorically, tear each other apart.
The beauty of animation is is ability to stylise or exaggerate its subject matter, to portray the impossible. Švankmajer shows that this doesn't mean animation has to be escapist, for children, or comedic. Used well, animation can convey truths about the human condition in a deeply profound way.
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