The Czech New Wave was an important film movement led by daring, rebellious film directors in the sixties. Since the nationalization of the film industry in 1945, cinema had gone stale. In the fifties, each film adhered so tightly to the standards set by the communist government that moviegoers found themselves bored in the theatres. Plot threads were entirely predictable and dogmatic, an aspect that would be criticized extensively during the movement (Kehr 2008).
““…film produced by the Communist studios in Prague and in Moscow, everywhere in Communist countries… was so artificial, so far-fetched, so unreal and untrue that we only wanted to see some reality, some real people on the screen.””
In the early sixties, as a result of de-Stalinization policies (Bates 37), the Artistic Council eased heavy restrictions on filmmaking. The Council had hoped that this would further propagate communist ideology not only in Czechoslovakia but worldwide. However, Czech filmmakers had other plans. Innovative and controversial films by directors such as Milos Forman, Štefan Uher, Evald Schorm, among many others, would mark the beginning of the Czech New Wave, a film movement steeped in anti-communist and anti-regime sentiment.
One of the earliest and most important New Wave films is Sunshine in a Net (1962) by Slovak director Štefan Uher. The movie portrays a young man volunteering in a work brigade in order to bring his father back in good standing with the government. Uher criticizes Czechoslovakia’s reliance on inadequate means of production through traditional labor and the government’s unwillingness to adopt more advanced technology (Owen 194). The film also presents a reflection of the Czech government’s warped vision of communism where labor does not account for self-actualization, but rather the lining of the government’s pockets.
More scathingly critical of labor in communist Czechoslovakian is The Courage of Every Day (1964) by Evald Schorm. Therein, the concept of work is set against a backdrop of “cynicism and failure” (Owen 198) through the eyes of Jarda, the film’s main character. Schorm tackles issues such as the devaluation of work and the cynical nature of workers when they lose their will to labor (Owen 198) under a government that takes advantage of them. The Courage of Every Day is an example of a running theme in several New Wave movies: the focus on contemporary issues and how the government’s obsession with work makes labor itself lose meaning.
Milos Forman’s seminal film, The Firemen’s Ball (1967), was a landmark in the eyes of the common people. With a cast of predominantly non-actors, the movie followed a loose script and improvised dialogue that resonated with moviegoers. However, the Czech government disapproved of the film due to their belief that certain scenes, like the incompetent firemen and the theft of raffle prizes meant for everyone at the ball, were allegorical to their own establishment. According to Forman, when President Novotny viewed the film in a private screening, he “climbed the walls.” (Forman 162) The government had attempted to sabotage test screenings by placing hecklers in the audience, but the joy of the average Czech seeing himself on the silver screen proved difficult to dissuade. The film would later be pulled out of distribution when the Soviets invaded Prague in August 1968.
Perhaps the most transparent criticism of the Czech government is Jan Nemec’s A Report on the Party and the Guests (1966). In the movie, a group of people spend time outdoors enjoying the freedom of nature until they are roped into a psychological prison by a group of shady, imposing men. Although the people have ample opportunity to flee, they unquestionably stay obedient to the whims of the group of men. This film is a direct reflection of communist Czechoslovakia’s imposing nature on its citizens, as well as an observation of how people are willing to accept things for the way they are when faced with such a regimental power. President Novotny had screened the film before its planned public release and had it banned immediately for being “…a direct attack on the Communist government and therefore too dangerous to show.” It had a brief showing in 1968 during the Prague Spring but was then banned yet again under the Soviets. Director Jan Nemec would later be exiled in 1974.
The sudden end of the Prague Spring following the Soviet invasion would mark the end of the Czech New Wave. Several Czech directors would flee the country following reimposed restrictions on filmmaking. However, the directors’ legacy would live on through subsequent films like Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), containing the same anti-establishment themes as his New Wave works. The sixties were an important landmark for film history, exposing communist Czechoslovakia to the world through works of art that dared to criticize a regime of complacency and propaganda.
Written by Fernando Gomez