Avant-garde to New Wave: Czechoslovak Cinema, Surrealism and the Sixties (Berghahn on Film)

The cultural liberalization of communist Czechoslovakia in the 1960s produced many artistic accomplishments, not least the celebrated films of the Czech New Wave. This movement saw filmmakers use their new freedom to engage with traditions of the avant-garde, especially Surrealism. This book explores the avant-garde's influence over the New Wave and considers the political implications of that influence. The close analysis of selected films, ranging from the Oscar-winning Closely Observed Trains to the aesthetically challenging Daisies , is contextualized by an account of the Czech avant-garde and a discussion of the films' immediate cultural and political background. Avant-Garde to New Wave 2 Contents 6 List of Illustrations 8 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction. Surrealism In and Out of the Czechoslovak New Wave 12 Chapter 1. Inspirations, Opportunities: Cultural and Historical Contexts 36 Chapter 2. Pavel Juráček’s Josef Kilián (1963) and A Case for the Young Hangman (1969): From the Surreal Object to the Absurd Signifier 57 Chapter 3. Jiří Menzel’s Closely Observed Trains(1966): Hrabal and the Heterogeneous 83 Chapter 4. Spoiled Aesthetics: Realism and Anti-Humanism in Věra Chytilová’s Daisies (1966) 110 Chapter 5. Flights From History: Otherness, Politics and Folk Avant-Gardism in Juraj Jakubisko’s The Deserter and the Nomads (1968) and Birds, Orphans and Fools (1969) 140 Chapter 6. Back to Utopia: Returns of the Repressed in Jaromil Jireš’s Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) 168 Chapter 7. Jan Švankmajer: Contemporary Czech Surrealism and the Renewal of Language 199 Conclusion 229 Bibliography 235 Index 250 Introduction Chapter 1. Inspirations, Opportunities: Cultural and Historical Contexts Chapter 2. Pavel Juracek's Josef Kilian (1963) and A Case for the Young Hangman (1969): From the Surreal Object to the Absurd Signifier Chapter 3. Jiri Menzel's Closely Observed Trains (1966): Hrabal and the Heterogeneous Chapter 4. Spoiled Aesthetics: Realism and Anti-Humanism in Vera Chytilova'sDaisies (1966) Chapter 5. Flights From History: Otherness, Politics and Folk Avant-Gardism in Juraj Jakubisko's The Deserter and the Nomads (1968) and Birds, Orphans and Fools (1969) Chapter 6. Back to Utopia: Returns of the Repressed in Jaromil Jires'sValerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) Chapter 7. Jan Aevankmajer: Contemporary Czech Surrealism and the Renewal of Language Conclusion Bibliography Index