Like Poland, post-war Czech cinema was state sanctioned and funded. There was a liberalisation in attitude in the early 1960s with the Prague Spring, squashed again after the 1968 Soviet invasion. The FAMU school in Prague, like the Łódź film school, was the training ground for a generation of film-makers. Czech films drew on theatrical and folk traditions like puppetry; the films that we viewed had a much lighter touch than the Polish films from the previous lesson.
Closely Observed Trains, Jiri Menzel, 1966
The sly humour is there from the beginning: martial music as we watch a pigeon strutting its stuff. My fellow students noted sexism and brutality where I saw only a leering male’s point of view (watching the countess ride off) and a comment (the rabbit for the pot) on the ever-present threat of death beneath the “Railway Children” vibe. I guess that makes me analytical rather than sensitive.
The Firemen’s Ball, Milos Forman, 1967
A more obviously comic film, still undermining authority in uniform. (Similarities with Ealing comedies in that regard.) It seems harmless from the short clip we saw, yet it was banned after 1968 and Forman left for the US.
Daisies, Vera Chytilova, 1966
Definitely not mainstream. As surreal as “Last Year in Marienbad” but it looked rather more fun. Two young women, both named Marie, decide to make the most of life in a world gone bad. It looks quirky, with nods to puppetry, robotics, animation. Lots of flowers and girl power, made with non-professional actors.
Old Shoe Box 