Sunday April 14th 2013, Czech film night with a double bill, Joseph Kilian (“Postava k podpírání” original tile, from Pavel Juráček, 1965, 38 min.) and A Report on the Party and the Guests (“O slavnosti a hostech” original title, from Jan Němec, 1966, 70 min.). English subtitles. Door open at 20pm, films begin at 21:00.
Joseph Kilian (“Postava k podpírání” original tile, from Pavel Juráček, 1965, 38 min.)
A year after Franz Kafka’s work had been translated from German into his native Czech, this experimental feature was full of Kafka’s tone and style. The story is about Harold, an isolated figure in an overwhelming world of totalitarian bureaucracy. Harold tries to find the elusive Joseph Kilian, an old acquaintance, in Prague. When Harold stumbles across a state-run cat-lending store, he impulsively rents a feline for the day. Later, he attempts to return the cat and finds that the store no longer exists. Now with a furry companion, Harold continues his search for Kilian. Written and directed by Pavel Juracek, this 40 minute film effectively aims its allegorical shots at personality cults and the absurdities of a totalitarian regime.
A Report on the Party and the Guests (“O slavnosti a hostech” original title, from Jan Němec, 1966, 70 min.).
Distinguished by being “banned forever” in its native Czech Republic, Jan Němec’s “A Report on the Party” is a great film from the flowering of the Czech cinema in the 1960s. It is a political thriller that satirizes unquestionable conformity. A group of happy picnickers are accosted by a group of strangers led by a bullying sadist who has an unbreakable hold over his followers. After he interrogates one of them, a stranger then invites everyone to a nonsensical, but elegant and formal banquet outdoors. Nemec documents the process of self-deception and rationalization which lead to an acceptance of constrant; free will and freedom are seen as difficult to maintain and easily discarded. The affair is bizarre, and ends when one of the guests (played by film director Evald Schorm) chooses not to remain and escapes. His compatriots agree that he must be recaptured, and the group arms and hunts him down. The film concludes with the nightmarish barking of search dogs.
Film night at Joe’s Garage, warm and cozy cinema! Doors open at 20:00, film begins at 21:00, free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net
