The Czech New Wave
On the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, we've curated a list from the Czech Republic's most politically subversive film movement. Reckoning with everything from bourgeois decadence to totalitarianism, these transgressive flicks have been both politically censored and critically praised.
Case for a Rookie Hangman
(Prípad pro zacínajícího kata)
A darkly absurdist adaptation of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1970
- Director Pavel Juráček
- Cast Lubomír Kostelka, Pavel Landovský, Klára Jerneková, Milena Zahrynowská, Luděk Kopřiva
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Ear
(Ucho)
A tale of surveillance and paranoia.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1970
- Director Karel Kachyňa
- Cast Jiřina Bohdalová, Radoslav Brzobohatý, Gustav Opočenský, Miloslav Holub, Lubor Tokoš, Bořivoj Navrátil
- Genre Mystery, Thriller, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
(Valerie a týden divů)
A pair of earrings forces a young girl into womanhood.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1970
- Director Jaromil Jireš
- Cast Jaroslava Schallerová, Helena Anýzová, Petr Kopriva, Jirí Prýmek, Jan Klusák, Libuše Komancová
- Genre Fantasy, Adventure, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Cultpix, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV
The Joke
(Žert)
An adulterous indictment of totaliarianism.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1969
- Director Jaromil Jireš
- Cast Josef Somr, Jana Dítětová, Luděk Munzar, Evald Schorm, Věra Křesadlová, Jaroslava Obermaierová
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, DocAlliance Films, Klassiki
Marketa Lazarová
A compelling, stripped-down, and surreal account of the shift from Paganism to Christianity.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1967
- Director František Vláčil
- Cast Josef Kemr, Magda Vášáryová , Naďa Hejná, František Velecký, Karel Vašíček
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
The Firemen's Ball
(Hoří, má panenko)
A fiery political comedy about a party turned disastrous.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia, Italy • 1967
- Director Miloš Forman
- Cast Jan Vostrčil, Josef Šebánek, Josef Valnoha, František Debelka, Josef Řehořek, Vratislav Čermák
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV
A Report on the Party and the Guests
(O slavnosti a hostech)
A picnic is rudely transformed into a lesson in political hierarchy when a handful of mysterious authority figures show up.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1966
- Director Jan Němec
- Cast Ivan Vyskočil, Jan Klusák, Jiří Němec, Pavel Bosek, Karel Mareš, Evald Schorm
- Genre Drama, Comedy
- Available on Criterion Channel
Closely Watched Trains
(Ostře sledované vlaky)
All it takes to make a man of a boy is a woman.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1966
- Director Jiří Menzel
- Cast Václav Neckář, Josef Somr, Vlastimil Brodský, Vladimír Valenta, Alois Vachek, Ferdinand Krůta
- Genre Comedy, Drama, War
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV
Daisies
(Sedmikrásky)
Decadence and destruction!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1966
- Director Věra Chytilová
- Cast Ivana Karbanová, Jitka Cerhová, Marie Češková, Jiřina Myšková, Julius Albert
- Genre Comedy, Fantasy
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV
Pearls of the Deep
(Perličky na dně)
A manifesto of sorts for the Czech New Wave.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1966
- Director Evald Schorm
- Cast Ferdinand Krůta, Alois Vachek, Milos Ctrnacty, František Havel, Josef Hejl, Josefa Pechlátová
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Criterion Channel
The Shop on Main Street
(Obchod na korze)
An unlikely friendship develops between a pair on different sides of World War II.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1965
- Director Ján Kadár
- Cast Ida Kaminska, Jozef Kroner, Hana Slivková, Martin Hollý, Adam Matejka, Elena Zvaríková-Pappová
- Genre Drama, War
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max
Lemonade Joe
(Limonádový Joe aneb Koňská opera)
Real men drink lemonade!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1964
- Director Oldřich Lipský
- Cast Karel Fiala, Miloš Kopecký, Květa Fialová, Olga Schoberová, Rudolf Deyl, Bohuš Záhorský
- Genre Comedy, Western
- Available on Cultpix, Apple TV, Amazon Video