Movies

The Fireman's Ball

Milos Forman: The Formative Years

June 26, 2008

These early works by the Czech director (whose later films in the U.S. include Hair, Ragtime, Amadeus, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) screen Friday through Thursday, June 27 through July 3, at Facets Cinematheque, 1517 W. Fullerton, 773-281-4114. Tickets are $9, $5 for Facets members.

Black Peter Forman’s 1964 feature (written with Ivan Passer) follows one of his typically inarticulate adolescents through a transitional summer that includes a job catching shoplifters in a grocery store and a first romance, of sorts, with a girl as unsure as he is. Forman’s discreet portrait of ebbing innocence is both wistful and ironic, sympathetic and very funny. In Czech with subtitles. 85 min. (DK) Sun 6/29, 3 PM.

Competition Forman’s first feature (1963) combines two early shorts, “If There Were No Music” and “Competition.” Dave Kehr wrote that the two shorts “already show Forman’s peculiar and effective way of playing the sentimentality of his material against the cold, mock-documentary irony of his camera work. ‘If There Were No Music,’ about two young musicians who can’t accept the discipline of their bandleader, reflects a theme that was to occupy some of Forman’s subsequent films—the breakdown of the institution’s power over the individual.” Don Druker wrote that the second short “reveals Forman’s skill at capturing the special problems and quirks of young people. It details the attempts of thousands of young girls to win a singing assignment at the Semafor Theater in Prague (a motif repeated to great effect in the rock singer tryouts of Taking Off). A marvelous look at a burgeoning talent.” 77 min. Sat 6/28, 3 PM.

The Fireman’s Ball Forman’s 1967 film of little people confronting little disasters, as the annual ball of a small Czech town goes hopelessly wrong. With Loves of a Blonde, it’s the best work Forman’s done, rooted in a social reality that has eluded him in his American projects and directed with a nonlinear suppleness that suggests the formal achievement of Jacques Tati. From a script by Forman, Jaroslav Papousek, and Ivan Passer; photographed by Miroslav Ondricek. In Czech with subtitles. 73 min. (DK) Fri 6/27, 9 PM; Sun 6/29, 5, 7, and 9 PM; and Wed-Thu 7/2-3, 7 and 9 PM.

Loves of a Blonde Forman’s 1965 comedy of love and disillusionment, about a young girl (Hana Brejchova) who mistakes a night with a traveling jazz musician for the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Forman’s great talent lies in his ability to slip sharply satirical observations into a softly naturalistic format; he makes fun of his characters’ shortcomings but never gives in to parody or caricature. Ivan Passer contributed to the screenplay; the photography is by Miroslav Ondricek. In Czech with subtitles. 88 min. (DK) Fri 6/27, 7 PM; Sat 6/28, 5, 7, and 9 PM; and Mon-Tue 6/30-7/1, 7 and 9 PM.

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