#145: FORMAN, Miloś: The Firemen's Ball (1967)

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FORMAN, Miloś (Czechoslovakia)
The Firemen's Ball [1967]
Spine #145
DVD
OOP


A milestone of the Czech New Wave, Miloś Forman's first color film The Firemen’s Ball (Hori, má panenko) is both a dazzling comedy and a provocative political satire. A hilarious saga of good intentions confounded, the story chronicles a firemen's ball where nothing goes right — from a beauty pageant whose reluctant participants embarrass the organizers to a lottery from which nearly all the prizes are pilfered. Presumed to be a commentary on the floundering Czech leadership, the film was "banned forever" in Czechoslovakia following the Russian invasion and prompted Forman's move to America.

73 minutes
Color
Monaural
in Czech
1:33:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2002
Director/Writers


Screenplay/Story by Miloś Forman, Jaroslav Papoušek and Ivan Passer.
Screenwriter credit: Vàclav Šašek.
Forman was 35 when he directed The Firemen's Ball.

Other Forman films in the Collection:

#144: Loves of a Blonde (1965)

The Film


The Extras

The Booklet

Six-page wraparound featuring an essay by J. Hoberman.

Commentary

None.

Video interview

With director Forman.

A behind-the-scenes

Look at the transfer process, featuring cinematographer Miroslav Ondricek and comments from Forman.

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