Like many Czech films, Autumn Spring cannot be defined by its surface matter, and considering Vladimír Michálek’s first feature film was an adaptation of Franz Kafkas novel ‘Amerika’, it is safe to assume the absurdism is emblematic of something other than what it appears to be. Autumn Spring uses some tropes / actors of the Czech New […]
Tag Archives: Czech New Wave
January
08
Autumn Spring – Vladimír Michálek and the influence of death. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
February
26
Adelheid – František Vláčil places all his hope in what goes on between two people. (film review)
posted by lisathatcher
František Vláčil is surely one of the greatest directors to have ever lived. For what it’s worth, he is certainly one of my favorites. I’m not alone in thinking highly of him, his film Marketa Lazarová was voted to be the greatest Czech film ever made (high praise indeed) and he was honored with a […]
November
15
I served the King of England – Jiri Menzel’s take on Bohumil Hrabal just after the Prague Spring.
posted by lisathatcher
I got the distinct feeling all the way through I served the King of England, that i was missing the “in” joke. It’s entirely likely of course – I’m not Czech, and I’ve never read the book. There is something deeply beautiful about Jan Dítĕ (Ivan Barnev) despite his rather appalling opportunism. Jiri Menzel made this […]
Diamonds of the Night – Heartbreaking beauty by Jan Němec in his first film.
posted by lisathatcher
I just don’t know where to start with this beautiful beautiful film. I’ve actually owned this film for a few months and hadn’t gotten around to watching it yet. It was on my ‘list’ for a couple of weeks then I sat down to focus this week finally – and as usual, I was stunned […]
Larks on a String: Jiří Menzel and Bohumil Hrabal defeat totalitarianism with spirit.
posted by lisathatcher
What a week in film I’ve had! What a week anyway – but I have been so lucky as to have seen some of the most incredible films this week. I watched Larks on a String today, and all I can say is thank god I own it, because it is a film that I […]
The Firemen’s Ball: Controversy in the Prague Spring.
posted by lisathatcher
The Czech New Wave was a period movement in cinema in Czechoslovakia that evolved out of the Devetsil movement of the 1930’s The Devetsil movement was an association of Czech avant guard artists founded mostly in Prague. The artistic output of its members was varied, but typically focused on magic realism, proletkult, and, beginning in 1923, Poetism, an artistic […]
Lisa Thatcher 