Like their cinematic compatriots in Italy, France, and Great Britain, the 1950s and 1960s saw a handful of young filmmakers in Czechoslovakia bursting with new ideas to bring to their local movie houses. The six films contained in the new Eclipse box set Pearls of the Czech New Wave feature five young Czech directors who met during days spent at FAMU, the Czech national film school, and their resultant movies show a group of hungry young directors anxious to make their marks in a dizzying array of styles and subject matter.
Pearls of the Czech New Wave: Eclipse Series 32
Pearls of the Deep/Daisies/A Report on the Party and Guests/Return of the Prodigal Son/Capricious Summer/The Joke
Directed by Jiri Menzel, Jan Nemec, Evald Schorm, Vera Chytilova, Jaromil Jires
Studio: Criterion/Eclipse
Year: 1966-1969
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 107/76/70/103/76/81 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: Dolby Digital 1.0 Czech
Subtitles: English
MSRP: $69.95
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Review Date: April 22, 2012
The Films
Pearls of the Deep – 3/5
Each of the box’s five filmmakers directed a short film based on a tale by Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal and collected under the title Pearls of the Deep. Jiri Menzel helmed “Mr. Baltazar’s Death,” the film’s best entry as we get a slice-of-Czech life while a group of fans watch a motorcycle race. Jan Nemec’s entry is “The Imposters” about two elderly men who have increased their own sense of self-worth over the years by fabricating accomplishments for themselves that they hadn’t really earned. “The House of Joy” is Evald Schorm’s entry, a slightly muddled mixture of farce, satire, and drama that seems a bit unfocused in look and tone. Even less appealing is Vera Chytilova’s “The Restaurant The World” as a body discovered in a restaurant pantry gives rise to a gaping group of curiosity-seekers and some confusing business with death masks. The film ends on a lighter note with Jaromil Jires' “Romance” as a gypsy girl and a young plumber’s assistant strike up a quick, possibly tentative relationship.
It’s ironic that the best short in this work comes from the least experienced of the five directors. “Mr. Baltazar’s Death” juxtaposes banal conversation with a lyrical look at the striking symmetry of motorcycles and their riders on a race track accompanied by sprightly music by Jiri Sust and featuring gripping images that are really impressive. Vera Chytilova also films some stylish images in the final moments of “The Restaurant The World” as a couple races through the windy streets in slight slow motion that’s rather mesmerizing (if only the surrounding narrative had been as interesting). “The House of Joy” is quite unusual; it’s the only short in color, and the tone is more tongue-in-cheek than the others mixing a main character who skins and guts goats for a living while painting murals on the walls, ceilings, and floors of the house he’s occupying. There’s also some religious satire as the short’s capping point. All together, this anthology is a mixed bag indeed, but the best shorts certainly hold one’s attention, and even the weakest ones aren’t completely bereft of interest.
Daisies – 3/5
Two “sisters” (Jitka Cerhova, Ivana Karbanova) are so bored by life that they claim to be “spoiled” and insist on stirring things up to make life interesting for themselves. Thus, anyone and anything that stands in the way of their having fun and prevents them from relieving the unrelenting tedium surrounding them is fair game. Their pranks become more and more outrageous and destructive, but they have no conscience about what they do.
Director Vera Chytilova is like a child in a toy shop: she doesn’t know what cinematic trick to try next, and the film is a kaleidoscope of arresting images: some color, some black and white, some tinted, and all randomly arranged. The focal story with the two out-of-control sisters (who gang up on the other’s dates, disrupt a nightclub, take milk baths, ruin everyone else’s fun, and eat, eat, eat with sometimes phallic connotations) wears out its welcome within the first quarter hour (it’s obvious the destruction has to increase exponentially as the film runs for it to have any effect at all, so one rather shudders near the end when the two gamins sneak their way into a banquet hall set up for a lavish dinner which they systematically annihilate), but Chytilova’s imaginative use of montage, often timed to music or sound effects, is quite something. The two leading actresses are trying to combine the precocious antics of Harpo Marx and Charlie Chaplin into their flower children personae, but despite admirably consuming mounds of food throughout the movie, their appeal is fleeting. The director ends the film with a satirical fist at her would-be detractors, and one gets the point even though getting there isn’t as much fun as she might have imagined it would be.
A Report on the Party and Guests – 4/5
Seven friends, three couples and a single friend, are enjoying an afternoon picnic in a wooded glen before attending a wedding banquet later in the day when they’re accosted by an oddly menacing pack of men led by the possibly psychotic Rudolph (Jan Klusak) who demand the group’s obedience and get rough when they’re ignored. When the intimidating party is interrupted by the party’s host (Ivan Vyskocil), they pretend they were only teasing the besieged adults who do attend the party but have an oddly unsettling feeling that all is not right throughout the meal.
Clearly an allegorical political tract on the dangers of hostile takeovers masquerading as acts of humanity and generosity, Jan Nemec’s film begins with a pastoral lightness but quickly segues into something inherently more vicious and frightening, and by keeping the camera in the faces of the victims and their victimizers, the tension is palpably heightened. The screenplay by the director and original story author Ester Krumbachova isn’t subtle but certainly covers all of its bases clearly with each of the seven terrorized guests representing a different approach to the bullying and threats they must endure (some try reason, others are openly defiant or shut down and ignore the problem while some go along happily and willingly). While it would have been easy to overplay these one-note roles, all of the actors have been restrained to not overdo, and the film is all the better for it, especially with the psychotic Rudolph of Jan Klusak and the man he seems most intent to malign, Charles, wonderfully underplayed by Pavel Bosek.
Return of the Prodigal Son – 4/5
After an unsuccessful suicide attempt (perhaps due to learning his wife was being unfaithful to him), Jan (Jan Kacer) is sent to a psychiatric hospital earning not pity but resentment from his wife Jana (Jana Brejchova) who is angry that the burdens of caring for their young daughter and her parents now solely rest with her. During Jan’s confinement, he’s hounded by his psychiatrist’s (Milan Moravek) unhappy wife (Dana Medricka) who becomes something of a stalker. Jan’s roommate is a ballet dancer (Jiri Kilian) who has as much trouble coping with the world as Jan does, and they do comfort one another as much as they can, but Jan makes attempt after attempt to escape from the institution even though every time he tries to reenter society, he finds he can’t cope with everyone’s expectations for him.
This psychological drama is much more traditional in approach than the previous films. Director Evald Schorm (who wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay) jumps back and forth between the hospital stories and the real life of Jan’s family coping with his absence with attention paid to Jana’s continuing love affair with Jiri (Jiri Menzel, one of the directors featured in this package). The main characters are all tortured to one degree or another, but Schorm missed the boat not spending more time with the story’s second most interesting character after Jan, the dancer played by Jiri Kilian. Though not completely disheartening, the film’s tone is downbeat, possibly a sign that the filmmaker felt constrained by political restrictions on subject matter and technique.
Capricious Summer – 4/5
Two middle aged men, a minister (Frantisek Rehak) and a major (Vlastimil Brodsky), are spending a leisurely summer at a riverfront bathhouse owned by the also middle aged Antonin (Rudolf Hrusinsky) and his wife Katerina (Mila Myslikova). A magician-acrobat (Jiri Menzel) and his beautiful partner Anna (Jana Drchalova) arrive to entertain the area’s residents, and each of the three men in turn are swept away by her beauty and charm, and each comes away from an encounter with her with surprising results.
Jiri Menzel’s bucolic light comedy will remind you a bit of Woody Allen’s A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy with its assorted pairings which continually shift, and it’s been filmed in the same hazy golden tones which distinguished Allen’s picture (one wonders if Allen was influenced at all by this earlier movie). It’s more a comedy of manners than a fall down farce (though there are some farcical moments), and the pacing is lithe and just right, never pressing for effects or overdoing some bit of business for the sake of a joke. The actors all excel by underplaying, and Jana Drchalova is stunning to look at and contributes a very beautifully sustained dance routine to save the show after an accident occurs. The director, who plays the acrobat-magician in his own film, learned to walk a tightrope for the several circus sequences in the movie, and he’s most impressive. This is also the film he made right after carrying home an Oscar for directing Closely Watched Trains, his first feature film.
The Joke – 4/5
Fifteen years after having been expelled from both the university and the Communist Party for a simple prank, Ludvik Jahn (Josef Somr) formulates a revenge on his former friend Pavel (Ludek Munzar) who had been instrumental in his dismissal from school and his later being sent to a hard labor division of the army and then to prison after his service. He plans to use his prowess as a ladies’ man to seduce Pavel’s wife Helena (Jana Ditetova) just as Pavel’s machinations had caused the loss of his school lover Marketa (Jaroslava Obermaierova). But there are surprises in store for more than one of the participants in Ludvik’s sinister charade.
Director Jaromil Jires and co-writer Milan Kundera have adapted the novel by Kundera by using counterpoint scenes that jump back and forth in time from the present to the salient moments in Ludvik’s past that have brought on his overwhelming bitterness and resentment. It’s a very effective tool in holding our attention in both past and present stories, and each is made stronger by its ironic placement to the other. While Helena’s instant adoration of Ludvik is a bit naïve and too automatic for believability, it’s the only misstep in an otherwise first-rate drama with heartrending performances by Josef Somr and an unforgettable, haunting cameo by Milos Rejchrt as a fellow inmate of Ludvik’s who succumbs to the cruelty and modified torture of this army punishment brigade.
Video Quality
Pearls of the Deep – 3/5
All of the films are presented in their 1.33:1 theatrical aspect ratio. Sharpness throughout is better than one might expect though there are definite signs of age present from dust specks especially present in the early going and inconsistent contrast levels which sometimes run too hot and destroy the otherwise striking grayscale. The color short is brownish in tone, but flesh tones are generally realistic and the color is never garish or overcooked. The white subtitles are easy to read. The film has been divided into 5 chapters, one for each of the tales in the film.
Daisies – 4/5
The color scenes boast admirable saturation levels for standard definition and feature very accurate skin tones. The various tints used over monochromatic footage only bloom when it seems to be the director’s intent. Black and white footage features a pleasing grayscale with blacks a little less deep than could be possible. There are a few scratches that appear off and on throughout the movie, and the tinted vintage footage of bombing raids seems very rough in comparison with the newly filmed scenes. Subtitles are in white and are easily discernible. The film has been divided into 10 chapters.
A Report on the Party and Guests – 3/5
The grayscale is erratic in the film. The beginning and ending sections boast strong black levels and crisp whites but much of the middle of the film seems lighter in contrast and much more dated in appearance. Sharpness in those beginning and ending sequences is very impressive as freckles on the complexions of several of the actors come through plainly, but again, image clarity in the middle portions of the movie aren’t as good. There is also a fair amount of dust speckles and a little debris that crop up during the movie. The white subtitles are easy to read (though they sometimes whiz by very quickly), and the film has been divided into 7 chapters.
Return of the Prodigal Son – 2.5/5
The film transfer lacks a crispness to its photography throughout, and the blacks are often crushed making shadow detail quite poor at times. There is also a fair amount of dust specks and scratches that can sometimes distract one’s attention. Aliasing and moiré also are problems fairly frequently. There should be no problems with the white subtitles, and the movie has been divided into 17 chapters.
Capricious Summer – 3.5/5
Color quality varies throughout the movie with some early scenes seeming a bit pale and dated looking. Later scenes, however, display a stronger sense of color saturation with decent flesh tone accuracy. Sharpness is excellent, and blacks levels at times are impressive. The film is dotted by dust specks, however, and there are scratches which also come and go. Subtitles are easy to read. The film has been divided into 11 chapters.
The Joke – 4.5/5
By far the best looking transfer contained in this package, sharpness is excellent throughout, and the grayscale is magnificently rendered with deep blacks and untainted whites. There isn’t very much in the way of age-related artifacts to ruin the presentation either although there is occasional jutter and a bit of aliasing to be seen. White subtitles are always easy to see, and the film has been divided into 9 chapters.
Audio Quality
Pearls of the Deep – 4/5
All of the films sport a Dolby Digital 1.0 audio track. The sound here is much stronger than one might expect for a film of this era. There’s no hiss or other aural artifacts, and dialogue, sound effects, and music mix comfortably together without overpowering one another. “Romance” was post synched, but it’s an admirable job the engineers have done to give it a livelier presence than is sometimes the case with post dubbed sound design.
Daisies – 3.5/5
The dialogue has been post synched, sometimes well and sometimes poorly, but at its best, it sounds as natural as it could sound. There is some hollowness occasionally, but music and sound effects come through often with panache.
A Report on the Party and Guests – 3.5/5
There is almost no low end to the music of Karel Mares giving the soundtrack an occasional tinny quality, but dialogue is clear, and there is no hiss or other sound problems on the track to mar the listening experience.
Return of the Prodigal Son – 2.5/5
There is flutter in the mix that comes and goes during the movie, and ADR is quite noticeable when it occurs offering a very hollow and unappealing aural experience. Jan Klusak’s music doesn’t offer great fidelity, but it’s not bad for a recording from this era.
Capricious Summer – 4/5
This transfer offers the strongest soundtrack of the films in the set. The music by Jiri Sust is very lush and has well above average fidelity for a low bit rate mono track (as impressively paired with the visuals as his music was in Menzel’s contribution to the first film in the set “Mr. Baltazar’s Death”). Dialogue has been well recorded and sound effects are apt for the story being told. There are no audible artifacts to spoil the listening experience.
The Joke – 3.5/5
There is better than average fidelity to the music in the movie which plays an important part as both background score (written by Zdenek Pololanik) and as part of the mise en scène (Ludvik is a musician). Much of the movie is post synched, so there is that problem with aridness in the ambience of the audio mix, but the dialogue is certainly clearly recorded, and there is no difficulty with hiss or other audio-related problems.
Special Features
1/5
There are no bonus features in Eclipse series releases, but each of the four enclosed slimline cases contains an enclosed pamphlet with Michael Koresky’s interesting liner notes on the various films in the case.
In Conclusion
3.5/5 (not an average)
Like all box sets of this type, the films in Pearls of the Czech New Wave are a mixed bag, but among them are some real treats, and none of the films are totally without merit. Fans of world cinema will likely enjoy sampling many of the films in this collection.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
