The Czech New Wave and Beyond

The decade in question witnessed major social, political, and cultural changes, which more or less directly influenced local film production. Therefore we will present the students both with the broader context of the decade – in terms of the emerging youth culture, consumerist lifestyle and embracing influences coming from western countries – as well as with the development concerning cinema, namely FAMU film school, three generation of active filmmakers in the 1960s and the state socialist mode of production.

Film: Konkurs (Audition, dir. Miloš Forman, 1963)

Reading: HAMES, Peter (2005): The Czechoslovak New Wave. New York and Chichester: Columbia University Press, pp. 20–29.

Stemming directly from the previous broader exploration of the decade this lecture focuses on those auteurs associated with the new wave, whom we might label as realists. While Miloš Forman’s name might be the one with the greatest international resonance, other filmmakers in the group also created visually restrained, but still rather sharp and ironic portraits of contemporary society. This session will thus explore the realists’ topical range and aesthetics, their key films, and how the regime treated them in terms of censorship and reception.

Film: Lásky jedné plavovlásky (The Loves of a Blonde, dir. Miloš Forman, 1965)

Reading: MAZIERSKA, Ewa (2008): Black Peters and Men of Marble. Masculinities in Polish, Czech and Slovak Cinema. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, pp. 99–110.  

Apart from movies set in a recognizable, everyday reality, the other group of young filmmakers offered rather distorted portrayals of the society and the ruling regime. These allegorical and provocative visions attracted bans and critical condemnation from the communist leaders as well as gained international praise. Therefore we will present students with a wide range of formal elements and stylistic innovations introduced by these directors, explore documentaries and their aesthetic and talk about period censorship and how the authors learned to negotiate with it.

Film: Sedmikrásky (Daisies, dir. Věra Chytilová, 1966)

Reading: SKUPA, Lukáš (2018): Perfectly Unpredictable: early work of Věra Chytilová in the light of censorship and production reports. Studies in Eastern European Cinema 9, 2018, no. 3, pp. 233–249.

Understanding the 1960s Czech cinema as an all innovative, all radical, and young art form would be rather limiting. In fact, the decade embraced cinema as an entertainment form as well. Therefore we should introduce students of the course to the popular titles falling under various generic categories – comedies, musicals, and thrillers. This session will also focus on parodies as a way to introduce western genres and their values into the ideologically restrictive context.

Film: Limonádový Joe (Lemonade Joe, dir. Oldřich Lipský, 1964)

Reading: SZCZEPANIK, Petr (2017): Postwar Czechoslovak Comedy, the Autonomization of Parody, and Lemonade Joe (1964). In: Ostrowska, Dorota – Pitassio, Francesco – Varga, Zsuzsanna (eds.) (2017): Popular Cinemas in East Central Europe: Film Cultures and Histories. London: I.B.Tauris, pp. 102–119.

The lecture will be focused on "niche" films of the 1960s and the Czech film industry apart from live-action feature films of Barrandov studio. It will introduce Brno and Zlín film studios and their production. Special attention will be given to Czech animation and its creators (Jiří Trnka, Karel Zeman, Hermína Týrlová, etc.), related closely to the long Czech tradition of puppeteering.

Film: Baron Prášil (Baron Munchhausen, dir. Karel Zeman, 1962)

Reading: POLT, Harriet R. (1964): The Czechoslovak Animated Film. Film Quarterly 17, 1964, No. 3, pp. 31–40.