Illustrated lecture by Michal Bregant

Film historian, critic, curator, and director of the Czech Film Archive in Prague, Michal Bregant discusses the career of Miloš Forman and his relationship with the Czech new wave, the artistic movement of the late 1950s and 1960s that profoundly affected the course of European cinema. (Approximately 50 minutes)

With his first 16 mm camera Forman made Audition, an account of tryouts for a musical play at Prague's famous Semafor Theatre, combining documentary and fiction. A satirical portrait of the young women who flock there merely to show off mediocre talents, the film's imaginative soundtrack is a mix of Czech pop, folk, and classical music. (Konkurs, 1963, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, 47 minutes)

In the aftermath of his exile, Forman's American debut was Taking Off, another tale that begins with a talent competition. Although it borrows motifs from Audition, the story takes a different turn, focusing on the American suburbanite parents of a runaway daughter who find themselves adrift in the "flower power" counterculture of the era, as they try to locate their girl. Chosen as the official American entry in the 1971 Festival de Cannes, the film—which includes a performance by Ike and Tina Turner—was awarded the jury prize. (1971, 35 mm, 93 minutes)

Introduction by Michael Bregant

A provincial fire department's annual ball erupts in mayhem—raffle prizes are pilfered, the beauty pageant goes awry, the contestants' carousing fathers drink too much—and outside in the town, a house burns down. For a humorously unassuming political allegory, The Fireman's Ball suffered one of the most unusual fates in film history. Not only was the president of Czechoslovakia outraged by its satirical tone, but thousands of volunteer firemen threatened to strike after it opened. Ultimately, the film was banned. (Horí, má panenko, 1967, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, 71 minutes)

Forman's first full feature was filmed in a small town with a nonprofessional cast who improvised much of their dialogue. Inspired by the vérité approach of Italian neorealism, Black Peter centers on a shy but sympathetic young store clerk who, assigned to apprehend shoplifters, lacks the nerve to confront anyone. Its warmth, ironic humor, and realism were a hit with viewers and, though criticized by the regime, the film was selected as the best picture of 1963 by Czech film critics. (Cerný Petr, 1963, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, 85 minutes)

Another critical success for Forman was Loves of a Blonde, a tender story of a naive factory worker who has a one-night stand with a musician from Prague and then follows him home. "Forman's humor comes from the fact that his characters peer out at the world like timid nocturnal animals, always prepared to defend themselves against attack but constantly having the ground cut from under their feet by the discovery that people are never quite what they seem"—Tom Milne. (Lásky jedné plavovlásky, 1965, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, 83 minutes)

Director's cut

Sweeping nearly all major categories in the 1984 Oscars, Forman's adaptation of Peter Shaffer's drama about a brash Mozart and his beleaguered rival Salieri was not without its detractors. Pauline Kael wrote, "The insensitivity to what Mozart might have been like is so flagrant that for the first hour you almost think it's a joke." Returning to Prague for the filming, Miroslav Ondříček’s cinematography captured opulent baroque spaces, while Forman played these period settings as counterpoint to his eccentric characterizations, curiously validating the whole effect. The director’s cut of the film is loaned through the courtesy of the Academy Film Archive and Saul Zaentz. (1984, 35 mm, 180 minutes)