Reading up about Czech New Wave titles (CNW),I was shocked to find out about a CNW movie that was filmed in 1970,but banned from being seen by the Soviet Union until 1989!,which led to me deciding that it was time to listen in on the movie.
The plot:
Returning home after partying with their fellow comrades,husband and wife Ludvík and Anna notice that their house has been broken into.Rushing in, Ludvík & Anna find that their spare keys have been taken,and that their house is the only one on the street without power.Looking outside their window,Anna and Ludvík notice mysterious men in long coats standing in the shadows,and a postal van parked nearby.Trying to rise to the top in the Communist Pary,Anna and Ludvík begin to fear that the strangers outside are party members secretly listening in.
View on the film:
Skipping over the allegorical lines usually taken (understandably) by Cold War Czech movies,the screenplay by co-writer/(along with Jan Procházka & Ladislav Winkelhöfer) strikes the occupying Soviet's with a merciless fury.Taking place over one night,the writers make the party that the couple attend one that is filled with Film Noir slime balls,who have their eyes locked on finding any flaws which can keep a competitor in their place.Coming back from the party,the writers soak Anna and Ludvik slippery in paranoia (where even Stalin gets named!) ,by making their fears over being spied on open up the raw wounds that have covered their marriage over the years.
Shooting down the sparks from the party,director Kachyna & cinematographer Josef Illík scan the guests with ultra-stylish Film Noir first person tracking shots,which along with exposing the lies falling from the fellow Party members,also allows the viewer to get an earful of Ludvik's ruthless views on his fellow Communist Party members.Backed by an icy score from Svatopluk Havelka, Kachyna gives Ludvik & Anna's house a rustic CNW naturalism,where dusty floors and mouldy walls match the decay of their inhibitions. Closing the couple off in the house, Kachyna digs them in with a rich Film Noir atmosphere,thanks to elegant panning shots and eye-catching flickers from candle lights cast a mood of impending dread over the house.
Walking round the house with busted nerves, Jiřina Bohdalová, (who the real Soviet/Czech secret police the StB tried to blackmail)gives an intense performance as Anna,who Bohdalová paints with a light shade of love for Ludvik,with an overwhelming agony over trying to stop Ludvik sinking into the Film Noir darkness.Trying to charm everyone at the party, Radoslav Brzobohatý gives an excellent performance as Ludvik,whose Film Noir loner loyalty over the Party Brzobohatý tears up with a stern brutality,as Ludvik discovers the hidden ear of his Party.
The plot:
Returning home after partying with their fellow comrades,husband and wife Ludvík and Anna notice that their house has been broken into.Rushing in, Ludvík & Anna find that their spare keys have been taken,and that their house is the only one on the street without power.Looking outside their window,Anna and Ludvík notice mysterious men in long coats standing in the shadows,and a postal van parked nearby.Trying to rise to the top in the Communist Pary,Anna and Ludvík begin to fear that the strangers outside are party members secretly listening in.
View on the film:
Skipping over the allegorical lines usually taken (understandably) by Cold War Czech movies,the screenplay by co-writer/(along with Jan Procházka & Ladislav Winkelhöfer) strikes the occupying Soviet's with a merciless fury.Taking place over one night,the writers make the party that the couple attend one that is filled with Film Noir slime balls,who have their eyes locked on finding any flaws which can keep a competitor in their place.Coming back from the party,the writers soak Anna and Ludvik slippery in paranoia (where even Stalin gets named!) ,by making their fears over being spied on open up the raw wounds that have covered their marriage over the years.
Shooting down the sparks from the party,director Kachyna & cinematographer Josef Illík scan the guests with ultra-stylish Film Noir first person tracking shots,which along with exposing the lies falling from the fellow Party members,also allows the viewer to get an earful of Ludvik's ruthless views on his fellow Communist Party members.Backed by an icy score from Svatopluk Havelka, Kachyna gives Ludvik & Anna's house a rustic CNW naturalism,where dusty floors and mouldy walls match the decay of their inhibitions. Closing the couple off in the house, Kachyna digs them in with a rich Film Noir atmosphere,thanks to elegant panning shots and eye-catching flickers from candle lights cast a mood of impending dread over the house.
Walking round the house with busted nerves, Jiřina Bohdalová, (who the real Soviet/Czech secret police the StB tried to blackmail)gives an intense performance as Anna,who Bohdalová paints with a light shade of love for Ludvik,with an overwhelming agony over trying to stop Ludvik sinking into the Film Noir darkness.Trying to charm everyone at the party, Radoslav Brzobohatý gives an excellent performance as Ludvik,whose Film Noir loner loyalty over the Party Brzobohatý tears up with a stern brutality,as Ludvik discovers the hidden ear of his Party.