Jiri Trnka’s “The Hand” sees a character who makes pottery approached by a floating hand that demands them to make a clay figure of the hand. There is a scene in the film wherein the hand shows the potterer sequences of the hand in various modes of implied power. A hand holding a judgment scale, a hand holding the torch akin to the Statue of Liberty, etc. The film seems to be making clear allegories to an oppressive government. Given the context of Czechoslovakia’s government, it seemed to be a response to what was going on. Later in the film, the hand literally puppeteers the potterer to make its statue for it while trapped in a cage. The clear messaging must have rubbed the Czech government the wrong way which was probably why they wouldn’t distribute it.
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