i have also extended my coverage lo include the directors I have referred to as the 'First Wave', because it is illogical to exclude them. |an kadar's and KJmar Klus' A Shop on the High Street and Vojtech lasnys Ai prijde kaeottr (Cassandra Cat that Cut .'When the Cut Comes, 1963) and AM Ah dood ( ountrymeti are conventionally regarded as New Wave films, even though their directors made their debuts in the 1950s (or. in klos' case, the 1930s). Can Cher's Slnkt) v sieti {Sunshine in a Set. 1962). Irantisek Vlacils Marketa Lazarora (1967) or Karel Kachyiias Leho {the Bar, 1969) be sensibly excluded Iron) what is essentially an interactive history? Eorman and Chylilova were also older than their colleagues, and Eorman had graduated in the 1950s. In the final analysis, we are looking at a Specific; socio cultural context that allowed increased creative freedom lor all generations, albeit spearheaded bv the international success ol I he younger directors. 1 have not attempted to deal with the role ot animation and documenlarv during the 1960s, partly because of film availability, but inainh because they require a separate and more specialised treatment. Many of the New Wave filmmakers worked in documentary - notably Schorm and lires, but also, in the years of normalisation, Vihanovu. (Inlilov.i. lakubisko and others. Documentary nevertheless played an important role in its interaction with features and in the addressing of contentious or taboo subject matter. Among the 1960s filmmakers to attract international attention were Vaclav Taborsky and Ian Spata. More recently, there has been some remarkable work from women filmmakers, including Helena Trestikova. and lana .Wikova {Piernule, 1984). I have nevertheless included some consideration ol the work of |an Svankmajer, the most outstanding ol'the filmmakers to emerge from animation from the late 1960s, and also Karol Vachek, whom some might describe as a documenturisl. I have included them here partly because I hey are impossible to ignore, but also because their work transcends established categories. I heir commitment to innovation and links to a submerged artistic inheritance also place them within the responses thai characterised the late 1960s. CULTURE AND SOCIETY THfc CZECHOSLOVAK CINEMATIC TRADITION i vx /.m .m \n oiu vi n his mo íograpli on the1 a\;u>.sV..:U New Wave with tfcecommeiil 'Jul the culture of small nations is too often seen as a pale reflection of the 'great'. In the case of C ,/echoslovakia, the Surrealist movement of the inlerwar \ears has often been treated as little more than a footnote to the French, while ihe best works ol' pre-war (Čechoslovák cinema, il they are considered at all. are seen as reflections ot (ierman Expressionism and Irench realism. Ihe Czechoslovak New Wave has, in turn, often been looked at solely in terms of the Western European influences exerted upon it. I here has been little attempt to examine the ways in which Czechoslovak cinema itself has set the pace or made significant additions 10 approaches initiated elsewhere. As Žalman pointed out: 'without some inherent resources and traditions, intellectual and creative inspiration, the Czechoslovak cinema which is at present the obiecl of so much inleresl could nol have come inlo being ... Culture draws its sustenance trom far deeper sources than those that supply political programmes.' While the Czechoslovak New Wave developed under quite specific historical conditions. 11 had the advantage of springing from a strong national tradition in cinema. Ihe first films were made in 1S98, and. although the majority of those produced between the wars provided conventional lilm entertainment, there are a number that equal in quality the best films of the German and Irench cinemas. A personal selection would include Karel Anton's Tonka Šibenice t louka tjftfe Cu/f»vv>, 1930V, Gustav Mactvatys /ť soboty m nedeli (from Saturday to Sunday, 1931 \ from a script bv the Surrealist poet Vítězslav Ne/val; losel Rovcnsky's Reka H . ■■ v i ■:, and k.uvi I'll, Ľ:- /em I /,';,' bajih ,S:.-\>. 19 ? K IV: tups, like I ran/ Kafka and I.eoš lanáeek, lhov needed a Max Hrod to popularise them and establish their significance outside iheir Lot al context. Ihe most significant long term developments for Czechoslovak cinema grew out of the 'Devčlsiľ movement. Devoted CO revolution in art, life and politics, the Devělsil linked itsell to the Communist Parly, advocated work of'a consciously avant-garde nature, and al tempted lo promote the cinema as an art form. Among the many important figures asso cialed with the movemenl were critic Karel 1'eige, the poet Víle/slav Ne/val and novelist \ ladislav Vančura. Nezval wrote a number ot film scripts, most notablv From Saturday to Sundav, and Vančura directed live films, including the important I'ied maturitou I Before the I inals. 1932). Martin Eric, who was to become (vechoslovakias most popular film director, directed former Devět si! members, the comedy team ol liŕi Voskovec and lan Werich, in Hej-Rup! (Heave Ho'.. 1934) and SrH patri nam IIhe World lielongs to Is. 1937). Vančura was closely involved in plans for the new nationalised film industry prior lo his execution as P&rt of ihe Nazi retaliation fol the assassination of Reinhard 1 leydrich in 1912. It was clearly no accident that one ol the first New Wave films )asnv's ( assandra ( at - should feature Werich, or thai some ol ihe most indiv i dual films of the 1960s should be based on ihe work 8 THE CZECHOSLOVAK MEW WÍ.VI culture and society 9 of Dcvetsil writers. In particular, me should mention FrantisVk Vlacil's Market a 1 azarovd (from Vanaira), jiff Menz.el's Razmiirne Uto tC.apridou* Summer. from VanCura) and lires'ss Valeric a tyden diva ( Valerie and Her Week af Wonders, 1969, from \ezval>. In 1968, [oscf Skvorecky ami Evald Schorm were planning to re-unite Werieh v^ith the exiled Voskovec in a new film that would also have featured Suchy and Sim of the Semafor'lheal re, and pop star Fva Pilarova. llefore moving to a consideration of the more immediate determinants of the New Wave, it is worth discussing some of the pre-war films and directors in more detail. Not only would the major films he familiar to the younger directors, but many were regularly revived in Prague cinemas, providing a kind of cultural continuity with the pre-war period that was not known, for instance, in the case of the British cinema. After the formation of the independent republic in 141N. Czechoslovak cinema initially faced economic insecurity. Although there was a brief postwar boom in which patriotic films caught the mood of the puhlic, producers were soon forced to compete with foreign imports. Technical standards were hampered by the absence of properly -equipped studios until the American and liiografia companies combined into the AH Company, and converted a former restaurant and dancehall into a studio in 1921. 'Ihis was supplemented by the Kavalirka Studios, established by actor-director Karel l.amac in \$%&s where some of the most important films of the 1920s were made before the destruction of the studios hy tire in 1929. The coming of sound provoked yet further problems, with the cost of new equipment and an inevitable rise in production costs. Furthermore, it was not immediately apparent that producing feature films tor a market of only thirteen million inhabitants was a viable economic proposition. 'Ihe first Czech talkies were actually produced in Paris, but the matter was finally resolved in favour of Czech-language production after the success ol the first films in the domestic market in 1930. hi 1933 fhe A W Company constructed ihe Barramlov Hilm Studios in Prague, which were to form the basis for both pre war and postwar devel opments. Ihe studios were originally intended to attract international production, and the A-B Companv ilseli undertook three costly historical films produced in foreign-language versions and aimed principally at the French market: [idien lluviviers Golem (1935), Victor Tourianskis Valha vplamenedt (Ihe \\>lga in Hames-, 1934) and Nicolas Farkas' Port Arthur (193ft). Ihe plan misfired, but the studios were fully employed, and (here was a rise in dome-lie production to over forty features a year by the late 1930s. Ihe 1920s and 1930s in Czechoslovakia are scarcely touched on by the standard film histories, and still await a substantial examination by non-Czech and Slovak critics and historians. It is immediately apparent ilia! (he key importance conventional]) aitached to Gustav Machaty's Fxtuse (Ecstasy. 1932} is diminished when set in the context of other productions of the period. No doubt a systematic study would produce a number ot discoveries and reassessments, Machatv is the one Czech director of the interwar years who gained an international reputation. He directed his first film as early a* 1919, and worked in Hollywood in 1920-21, reputedly as an assistant to both DAV. Cirifiith and l-.rich von Stroheim, His lirst film of significance was an adaptation of Tolstoy's Kieutzewva sonata i 'She Kreutzer Sonata. 1926), followed hv the unsuccessful Svejk v eivilu (Ihe Good Soldier Sveik in Civilian I ije. 1927), inspired by Jaroslav 1 lasek. Mai.hatys fame rests squarely on the sueces de sraitdale ot Ecstasy at the Venice J-'ilm Festival of" 193-1 and. in particular, its featuring a nude Hedy Kiesler (Hedy Lamarrl. Although Parker Tyler included it in his Classics of the Foreign l:ilm - the only Czech title - he regarded this study of female sexuality as 'not important as a finished work of art but arresting as an unusual gesture, in an unusual direction. Si a moment when its subject viewed seriouslv as I think its maker viewed it - required courage to film and offer to the general public'. I iowever, Machaty had previously made two important films in collaboration with Yilc/slav Nezval: Erotikem (1929) and From Saturday to Sunday [ 1931). Together, the three films pro-; ide a clever and often subtle analysis of'male/female relations. Erotikon is a film about passion and human relations that, despite the frank sensuality of its early scenes, favours accepted morality. It examines the outcome of a night of love at a provincial railway station. Ihe stal i on masters attractive daughter, played hy the Yugoslav actress Ita Rina, sleeps with a man from the city who is forced to stay the night after missing his train. She becomes pregnant, brings shame to her lather, and is sent away to have the child. In its juxtaposition of country/innocence and town/decadence and in upholding the values of family lite, the film is entirely conventional. 1 Iowever, the depiction of a sympathetic heroine governed by passion and eapahle of twice going astray provides added com plnily lo the suhiect, and looks tor ward to the theme ot Ecstasy. Ihe convenient killing off of her seducer, the object of temptation, and the miraculous intervention by an understanding and well-off young man who doubles as husband and father-figure nevertheless provide a strong confirmation ot existing values. Machaly s stylistic brio is reserved for the films opening scenes, depending heavily on the background of a thunderstorm and scenes of erotic tension built from cutting beiween the two participants in separate rooms, fhe girls longing is conveyed through her open mouth, knees protruding from the bedcovers, and the symbolism ot telegraph poles in the pouring rain. In the bed scene it sell. I he man appears as a Dractila-like figure as he rises above her naked breast. Ihe beginning of their clinch is filmed from overhead, the room spinning round at its climax, and the sequence ends with the merging of raindrops on the window. I-asy to parody today, it was an opening of considerable power that also drew atten lion to the atmospheric lighting of Vaclav Vich £cs/iis>, otten des^ ribed as a landmark in (he history of ihe erotic film, is a logical extern sion of Erotikou. However, while it focuses direclly on the woman's sexual needs, its plot has little to oiler, the central figure, played hy Hedy Lamarr, is newly-married to a dull husband, who ignoR-s her both personally and sexually, treating her as little more than a decorative acquisition She leaves for home and the countryside, where she becomes the mistress of Ihe virile loreman of a work learn. When her husband comes to letch her, il is too late. For a while, Ihe threat ol murder bangs over her lover, but it is (he husband who finally eommils suicide. 'Ihe film is a visual celebration of sexuality and the physical that uses its countryside set ling with considerable skill, Ihe famous nude scene has Lamarr pursued through the trees by tracking shots and swimming in long shot, the motif of horses emphasising a union with nature, rather lhan crude voyeurism. Ihe attempt lo portray her lover in similar terms is less -successful. He is photographed against the skyline in the kind of shots reserved tor athletes and Socialist Kealisi heroes. Ihe film concludes with the 'Píseň práce' {'Hymn lo Work'), a virtually abslract section based on František 1 lalas' poem, in which the muscular bodies oi workers are juxtaposed with ripening corn an evocation of birth/construction that ends wilh a poetic image of mother and child. Ji ia, above all. the tonal qualities of Ian SiallietYs photography that make these sequences the prototype of'Czech lyricism'. Paul Itotha wrote: culture and society II With much of its action shot in natural surroundings Maehaty's direction was as good as anything being made in Europe in the 1930s, His use of editing to build up moments of high tension, such as the automobile drive to the level crossing, his sense of movement and symbolism, and his very delicate handling of situations that could easily have become laughable, put him with the best directors o1 the period ... Its attempt to create a soundtrack which would he easily translatable tor interna lional markets by having only one sequence in direct synchronous speech is worth analvsis, as indeed was its ingenious use of oil-screen sound. 'Die photography was superb.1 In comparison with both I rot ikon and Ecstasy, i:rom Saturday to Sunday is a much more mature work. The script attempts greater depth of characterisation, and makes a more convincing etfort to deal with the problems of everyday reality. 1 he film opens with doors swinging to and fro, a second hand moving around a clock to the figure twelve. A tracking shot shows typists working at their desks. A well-dressed and voluptuous young woman persuades her conventional colleague. Mafia, to go on a double date with her - hut she has to borrow a dress and some shoes. It is an economical summing up ol the world ol everyday work, of financial and character diiíerences, and nflhe solutions thai may be on offer. In the nightclub scene that follows the decadence/altraction of night life is emphasised as it had been in krotikvn. In one image, the camera manages a close up juxtaposition of pince nez and a girl's bosom. I he camera swoops across the room towards the group a hand grasps a knee and a face gets slapped. 1 he two girls gel drunk, and a clown sings about people at night to a background of paper stm and stars, coquettish faces and winking eyes, A finger moves down a list of hotels in a telephone directory. Mana tries lo stave off the evening's apparently inevitable outcome, but she is prevented from leaving, and money is thrust surreptitiously into her handbag. Another young woman cries, saying that she was taken to a private room and given nothing tor her services, [n tact, Maria makes a lasl-minute escape from the threatening hotel bedroom, and takes refuge from the pouring rain in a cafe, There she meets a man, and lbe film records the progress i^l their romance after their return to his flat. 'lhe simple, almost neorealist account of their developing affair is disturbed by the need lo provide a conventionally dramatic ending, lhe money secretly advanced in anticipation of her favours leads lo a breakup in the relationship, and Maňas attempted suicide, lhe final chase lo her rescue seems false, a near tragedy no) adequately based in the plausible character observation that has preceded it. lhe strength of the film derives from a delicate and lyrical romanticism. Particularly impressive are the scenes in the bachelor tlat, strewn with clothes and discarded lootwear. Mafia puts her tiny feet into the man's great slippers and wriggles w ith pleasure1 as he makes coilec tor her. 'I heir first kisses are accompanied by a radio programme of early morning exercises (intercul wiih shots of a fat announcer and a fat couple demonstrating them), The lone of mockery continues when the young man hums a hole in her dress whiie ironing it. a minor disaster welcomed by the sound of a muted trumpet, lhe film differs from Erolikon and Ecstasy in its avoidance ol excess, lhe absence ol tragedy, and the equal matching of a hem and heroine from the same social class. At a number of levels, Maehaty's films are reminiscent of the late Wills work of G.W. Pabsl. The heroine of From Saturday to Sunday finds herself in an initial filiation not that different troni Greta Garbo in /lie trcudhtc ('«is.se (Trie Joylt'ss Street, 1925}; the poetic' criticism ol decadent city life is shared with a number of German realist films, and the star performances of Ita Rina and Hedy I.amarr recall the same kind of direclor/actress relationships. However, the German films do not show the same concern with a realiM surface, location shooting or lyrical camerawork. As Rolhaand olbers have suggested, the control of camera and cutting is certainly as advanced as any other films being made at the time, and i I is al this technical level that the films are so etfeelive, providing a visual range and mobility over and above the immediate requirements of the script. A film (hat shares a number of (hese character is tics is Karel Anions Ibnka of the Callows (I93H), which accidentally became the first G/eeh sound film when part ol the negative was destroyed in the Kavalírka fire of 1929. Anton reshol the sequences and took his actors to Paris and Joinville to add sound. Its cast included Ita Rina as Tonka, with Vera Baranovskaya. (Pudovkins 'Mother') and lhe G/ech actor/director [oseť Rovensky. Anton's international ambition was indicated by the fact that the film was made in G/.eeh, French and German versions. The story was taken from a novel by the Czech born German writer P.gon Ervin Kisch, in turn based on a journalist's reporf about a Prague prostitute who gives herself to a condemned man at the request of the aul hoři lies. Another film contrasting the decadence of city life with the innocence of the countryside, it stresses the financial attractions of prostitution tor a woman iorced lo earn her own living. In the opening sequences, (he coming of spring is linked lo her leturn to the country, her mother and her sweetheart. She brings gifts and clearly has a 'good' job in the city (although she is looking pale). Her romance develops against a background of lyrical, impressionist photography, with a gay and skittish performance from Kina. Suddenly, she returns to the city without explanation. It transpires that Tonka is the most popular girl in a Prague brothel, and she responds to the authorities' request for a volunteer to spend the night with a condemned man (Josef Rovensky >. In contrast to lhe lyricism oft he scenes in the countryside, this sequence depends heavily on Expressionist effects. Tonka first sees the shadow of the man cast against prison bars as if he has already been hanged. A huge, grasping shadow reaches for her, the man's eyes glazed. Her comforting of him is intercut with shots of the waiting executioner with clipped hair and lormal dress sitting in an empty guardroom angular, geometric lines, the shadow ot the barred grill against the wall. He had only wanted an ordinary street whore, but she is able to break through the despair oi a man who 'has no one'. She encourages him to 'have courage' in (he lace ofhis execution, and her face is superimposed on bis before the banging. With the ironic words, '!uatL\- lias been dune! a black cniss dominates the screen. She prays to t iod to have pify on his soul. Ihis strange romance profoundly affects Tonka, giving bee a quasi religious insight into the meaning of life that goes beyond the values of the society in which she lives. She is so clearly depressed by the man's death that she is soon referred to as his 'widow', her loss of vitality making her unattractive to customers. The other whores leave a model of the gallows and a hanged man in her room, and she is eventually thrown to the streets, an object of both pity and ridicule. lhe story ot Tonka of lhe Gallows' becomes popular, and pursues her to the end of ber lile. Her lover takes her back to the countryside, bul literally on the verge of marriage (she is wearing her wedding dress) someone lells lhe story oi Tonka. She returns to Prague and, at the end ol lhe film, is shown felling hi-r story in exchange for a drink. Her death is directly linked to her desire for a 'normal' married life. She imagines that she sees a wed-ding dress on a si reel stal!, grabs it, and runs across the road under a passing taxi. She 12 THE CZECHOSLOVAK NEW WAVE culture ina//, they moulded Dadaism. circus, jazz, Chaplin, Buster Keaton and American vaudeville into a now art form. 'I hey ere-ak'd a new form oi intellectual political musical. Never belore had am tiling like that existed in Bohemia, and it was a quarter of a century after the Nazis had closed the Voskovec and Weiich theatre before it appeared again in the Semafor Iheatre of lifi Snchy and }ifi Slitr, Voskovec and Werich made a number <>J films based on their plays in the 1930s, includ ing Piuir a benzin il'owder and PeiroU 1931) and Petnee who iivoi I Your Mowy or Your Life, [932), both directed by Jindfich 1 lon/1, fric directed them in llttiw I fa! (193-1). widely-regarded as their best film, and 'Ihe World Belong* to (_'s (1937*. Both films had music by )aroslav Je/ek. and photography by Otto I leller, who later worked in Britain on such projects as Richard III (1955), JVcpjjie, Tom (1959> and the Ipcress File (1965). The World Hclongi to Ik is an attack on Nazism, and f leave Ho!, the more substantia! of the two, is an attack on capitalism, In this film, Wench plays the head of a firm who is ruined by a ruthless rival (a cripple given to such phrases as 'liusmess is slow. Don't he sentimental about the workers, fire them or go broke.'!. Voskovec plays a worker representative who is supposed to speak on the radio about the unemployment situation. I ie begins v, ilh the script prepared for him: It is my privilege to speak for the unemployed. .Smilingly we gaze into the future.,.' fie throws away the script and tells the truth, only to be set upon trom all sides and dragged away from the microphone. [he two are thrown together and go through a number of comic routines owing much to traditional Hollywood slapstick culling a hedge at different levels for an eccentric philatelist with stamps stuck in his backside; ironing trousers with a steamroller that goes out of control and buries a car; displaying the kissing techniques oi 'happy endings' in tilms that range from Douglas laiibanks and (Charles Buyer to King Kong (1933). However, their progress is never divorced from social reality. I heir first night is spent in a cheap doss-house where the world of high finance is soon placed in perspective bv the monetary problems of the poor. 'Iheir own situation is tile cue tor a song in the tradition of Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime; set against a background of unemployment charts dating hack to 1929. A series of accidents lead to Werich s inheriting a hali '-built factory, which he completes with the help of unemployed labour. Building on their endeavours, they form a successful collective that produces milk products and puts Werich's rival out of business. Business multiplies, the results being recorded through split-screen techniques. 'Ihe return of their first lorry, where the milk in churns has turned to butter, becomes (he excuse lor an alfectionate parody of fisenstein's (h-neml'iami litiiyn (Ihe General Line, 1929). Lorry one becomes ihe cream separator; and, as Voskovec speaks in lake Russian, a procession of lorries appears that recalls ihe ranks of tractors (hat till the sueen in f.isenstems film. Beginning with the words 'Our century is a horror show to which no horror show can aspire'. Tht World tfelonp to lj provides an analysis linking unemployment, capitalism and the rise ot Nazism. Set during ihe depression, a new demagogue sets himself up as a champion ot the unemployed, but his election campaign is financed by the very firm that helped to create the crisis. Initially hired by rival factions to paint slogans on factory walls. Voskovec and Werich end up on the side of (he workers and defeat a fascist plot (o overthrow die government, A film depending more on both politics and narrative than (heir earlier work, it was enormously successful on its Jirsl release. 'Ihe only existing version was reconstituted from fragments after the negative was destroyed during llieNa/i Occupation. As Michal Schouberg suggests, the Liberated 'iheatre and the films of Voskovec and Werich remained associated in the consciousness of the Czech people wilh the highest ideals of liberty and democracy'.' Two films that addressed the problems of the working class more directly were Přemysl Pra/skvs BatoUon tliiXUilion. 1927} and Oar! funghans' Tukový ie život (Such is Life, 1929). BatUiliou was adapted from a novel by Josef Hais-1'ynecký about the early Czech Socialist l)r i-'rantisek Cher. Ihe title is the name of an imi frequented by the Prague underworld, providing a focus lor the analysis of class relationships, problems of drink, prostitution and police behaviour. Il is an often compelling story that employs montage effects owing much to the Soviet example. .Such is Lite is often seen as a by product of the Cierman realist film of the early 1930s, that included such films as Mutter Kramm'i Tuhrt ini Gliiek {Mother Kruiueris journey to Huppinesi, directed by i'iei [ut/.i, (929), Berlin-Alexumicrplut: (directed by fut/.i. ty31) and Kiihle Wumpe (directed by Slatati Dudow, 1932), based on ihe script by Rertolt Hrecltl and P.rnsl < Htwald. It is rated highly by l.yech critics and by Siegfried Kracauer, although il gels only faint praise from l.otte fisner in /.' Perun Démoninque (19651. Car! Junghans was a Cierman journalist, plavwrighl and director who failed lo find commercial backing tor Stteh is I He in (rermaiiy. It was originally lo have been backed by the Social Democrats and (he Communists, but they decided to hack .Unifier Kru use/is /minify to Ifappiitess. instead, a theme (hat, according to Uinghans, had originaled with him. He was later to co-direct a second ('/ech film, A iivot jde ddl (Life does On, 1933-35), featuring Ka fiina, which was made as a C/c\ h-Yugosla v co production. Such is Life was provided with a music soundtrack in 1959 by Zdeněk I.iska, working under the direction of hlmar Klos, Technically, Sueh is / ife is a remarkably accomplished film and one of a number that looked forward to the principles of neorealism. It centres on (he character of a washerwoman (Vera Baranovskaya), and the everyday problems surrounding the life of her family. 'Ihe title of the film is reflected in its six major divisions: 'Days of Work', 'Hays ot Pleasure', 'Days of Sadness^ 'Days o I Rest', 'Days of Bitterness' and 'final Days! She faces the not uncommon problems oi'a pregnant daughter and a drunken husband who is both unfaithful and sacked Irom bis job. A hard and exhausting lile ends in a premature death. Although the immediate cause is an accident, her physical and menial state are contributory factors. Ihe striking aspect of the film lies in its use of locations and a sense of documentary -this despite the use of such well-known actors as Baranovskaya. Iheocior Pistek and Valeska Cert. (In ihe whole, the decorative image is avoided, although some degree of lyricism is permitted in the river scenes that comprise'Days of Rest' [for everyone except the film's central character). lunghans also employs montage sequences at key points. Ihe most notable W when Baranovskaya walks across the Charles Bridge in Prague after she has spent Sunday washing by Ihe river. Her figure is intereul with the statues on the bridge (t .hriM, Mary, and síl oni, and ihe sequence ends in an overhead shot emphasising her isolation/martyrdom as she drags (he tools of her trade on a small cart, 'there is also an effect i vely-eut dance scene fctid a montage of tombstones at the end o! the film to remind us thai her fate is not uniuue. Although the lot of the mother is harsh, she remains buoyant, and there are scenes of everyday happiness as well as of suffering, 'ihe scenes of her daughter a I work as a manicurist culture and society I? have elements of humour and observation worthy of Miloš forman, and her husband's quid but deeply fell reaction after liťr death is rendered with an und er sta lenient imcharaderistk of the German school. 'Ihe final stene ol the funeral parly moving off suggests inevitability, the typical nature of her sutfering, and the universality of the topic. Kracauer quotes Carl Vincent's description of the film as showing a touching and smiling tristcsse in the face of human pain and decay'.1 I hus. the film provides a critical observation of working-class life, but in no sense attempt the kind of political analysis aimed at in Kühle Wampe. Nevertheless, it does stress the life of the working class, and the credit before the funeral. "Hie Days of the i'oor 1 lave No Hndl makes il more than an example of the 'social deamitif. "Ihe main challenge to cinematic orthodoxy was mounted by the novelist Vladislav Vančura. "Ihe first chairman of the I Jevě t sil and the leading experimental novelist of ihe in t er war years, he wrote many unrealised film scripts, and was one of the prime movers in the attempt to develop cinema as an art independent of commercial demands. He believed in collective work, and brought many eminent names together to work on his films, mcftid ing N\vval, Roman Jakobson, the novelists Ivan Olbrachl and Karel Novy, Bohuslav Mariinu and the composer and stage producer k, R Burian. 'Ihe first film on which Vančura worked was Heiore the Linah, for which he took credits as co-director with Svatopluk Innemann. Ihe film is a delicate and lyrical observation of life at a boys' school, focusing on the human isat ion of a narrow minded mathematics teacher Ihe film's strongest quality lies in its sympathetic identification with the school communilv and Vani ura's avant garde interests are closely integrated within (he concerns of a predominantly mainstream film. Nevertheless, there are some unusual innovations. In one scene, a skill meeting is seen through a glass window, ihe characters standing and gesticulating like shadow puppets, 'Ihe music is exaggerated and satirical, and ihe camera circles and tills in an acrobatic manner, There is also a preoccupation with overhead shots, which give a sense of dištancia t ion, as well as of spatial relationships and ideographical context. Willi jVií sluneťni stratiť (Ün ihe Sunmsnie. 1933), Vančura adapted the ideas of the Soviet educationist A. S. Makarenko, examining the late of children brought up within dil ferent social classes. Set in a children's home, il demons!rales the ways in which equal talents and needs are threatened by the injustice and division of the outside world, Ihe screenplay was written by Nezval, lakobsou and Miroslav Disman. Both acting and costume are used in a deliberately symbolic and stylised manner. Whenever conventional narrative or drama seems about to take over. Vančura introduces some form of "disjunctive effect. In one scene, a conflict between husband and wife, the camera swings like a pendulum above litem, lurch ing off the set and then back again. The use of ellipses, wipes and deliberately-posed figures produces an effect of constant, disorientation, while ihe class parallels are stressed through montage mannequins inlercul with bourgeois ladies: finance wifh ihe serving of food; a clandestine affair with a mechanical dredger. A puppet show commenting on the role of money is ilself exposed as a mechanism. The film was rejected by its producers and released only in a revised version. In the meantime, Vančura had formed a film cooperative, lor which he made Murijku ŕiťvčrni'iť (Faithlesí Marijka, 1934). Set in Ituthenia (pari of Czechoslovakia until 19-15>, if was written by Karel Novy and Ivan Olbrachl, and became known as 'the film by three novelists', Willi few exceptions, most of the characters were played by n on professional actors, members of the regional Rutheniaii and Jewish communities, fascinating on many levels, ils main focus is on economic issues and ihe world of work. There are lyrical scenes of the river, ennobling shots of workers against the landscape, and an inventive use of split-screen, Its virtuoso use of montage, often using images turned on their sides, is unusual in a 1930s film, and the work was given added power through Martinu's only film score. Apart from Maehaty, who had embarked on an ultimately abortive international career in the mid-1930s, another filmmaker to leave for the United Stales was Alexandr Hackenschmied I later known as Alexander Ilammid), The fact lhal he worked principally in documentary, often as cinematographer/editor, and rarely look more than a co-director credit, has kept his name out of the puhlic eye. In Chechoslovakia he was a champion ot the independent or avant-garde film, and made a number of short films, including Beziu'eina procházka (Aimless Walk, 1930) and Sa Pražském hrade (Prague Castle, 1932), in which he tried 'to find ihe relationship between architectonic form and music*. He worked as a scene designer on Machatýs Kroiikotu and look a maior credit as artistic collaborator' on I 'mm Saturdav to Sunday. 1 le also played a key creative role as editor of Plickas The Earth Sings, which was transformed into 'a visual and aural symphony", and he photographed Vávra's listopad {November, 1 yJ4i. Apart from a major contribution to American documentary, Hammid made furl her films on musical subjects, including a feature version of Menollis opera. The Medium {1951). In 1913. he demonstrated a continued interest in the independent film when, with his then-wife Maya Peren, he co-directed Meshes of the Afternoon (19-13), one of the seminal works of the New American Cinema. Thomas h. Valášek argues that there are strong similarities between this and the earlier Aimless Walk, and thai Hammid made a significant contribution to Deren's later work, in particular Af Land (WD. ■ Another figure that should perhaps be mentioned is that of I logo I laas, who became well known as an act or/director/writer in Hollywood in the 19-IQs and 1950s, with a number of his films based on Czech originals. He made his name as a popular comic actor in films such as Innemann's Mu/í v ojfsidu i Men in Offside, 1932) and Život je pes {it's a Dog's Lije, 1933), part of a sequence of seven films in which he was directed by Mariin frjč. He turned to direction in ihe late 193()s, notably with his film version ot Karel ( apek's anti- fascist play, /díl; nemoc (Ihe White Sickness, 1937), in which he also played the part of Doctor Galen. Both this and Ihe VoskovecWerich Ihe World Belongs to I-s were the subiecf of Nazi protests in the year before Munich. The Jewish born Haas completed two more films before leaving for the United States. It would be wrong to overemphasise the native cinematic tradition. Nevertheless, ihe Impressionism ti| Karel Anion, liie lyrical eroticism i>! Machatv ihe pastoral cualit:e> (S Rovensky's best work, ihe capacity lor subtle observation of character and the socially-con scioiis humour of Voskovec and Werich provide a;strong national context. The influence of ihe chatacteristic 'Czech style' of photographic lyricism, associated with Ian Sfallied, is particu I arly apparent in the films of the laic- 1950s. The early work of the chiematographers ]an Cufik CfTie White Dove) and laroslav Kučera (Touhu j Desire, 195»]) owes much to his example. In the more open atmosphere of the 1960s, it was natural thai new direclors would he inosi influenced by the radical breaks with tradition characteristic of contemporary '■rench arid Italian cinema. Among the most obvious influences were Codard, Resnais, Tmifaul, Reichenbach, Antonioni and fellini. There were also links with ihe hnglish 'realms (Anderson, Re is/. Richardson) of the early 1960>, with their emphasis on ihe problems of everyday life. However, more than anything else, the Czechoslovak New Wave was the product of ils hmes, of the political and cultural situation in Czechoslovakia. Wilh (he benefit of hind-Slghl, it tail be seen that the reforms of the 1960s resulted from a return to traditions that "*d remained lafent during ihe Stalinist period, hi the sphere of culture, the flourishing of ideas and hanger lor the arts were a spontaneous response to de-Stalimsatiom once the lit! was off, ihe repressed energy had to find expression. As Skvorecky has pointed out: 'In all branches of an the artistic common sense gnawed at the glazing oi officious socialist realism from the verv beginning.' ' Before the !%()s, this took the form of having the conviction to tell the truth about everyday life within traditional narrative conventions or in emphasis ing the poetic, format qualities of the lyrical photographic tradition, development1- thai in themselves would not seem inherently suhversive. It is noticeable that, even with the greater freedom provided in the 1460s, direciors who served their apprenticeship in the 1950s did not radically change their approach or methods. Such a 'generation gap' is equivalent to similar developments in Western Purope. thf politicaland cultural BACKGROUND After the aptly-descrihed Munich betrayal' of 1938, when the Anglo-Trench allies handed over to Hitler a third of the country. 40% of its industry and Czechoslovakia's frontier defences, it was only a matter of lime before the German invasion. At the end of the Second World War. the Yalta Conference agreed on Western and Soviet spheres of iniluence. and lite Red Army was granted the honour of liberating Prague. Ihe Soviet Occupation, which lasted sis mouths after the liberation, seemed to indicate almost inevitable adherence to a Communist form ol govemmenl. Ihe rcalpolitik of the Great Powers ruled then as it had in 1938, and would again in 1968. 'Ihe new government lasted for less than ihree years before being replaced by a Communis! dictatorship that was to prove one of ihe most conformist and repressive in Pastern P.uiope. While the Communisl accession to power in 19-18 was prepared for by the decisions ot the Great Powers, it was aJso the reflection of a strong Communist tradition in Czechoslovakia. Ihe Party was the outcome of a split in the Social Democratic Parly and. at the lime of its inception in 1921, numbered some 13(1,000 members In its first parliamentary election in 1925, it polled 13,2% of the votes and became the second largest party in the country, ft was predominantly working class and had a genuinely urhan organisation. However, as Vladimir Kusin has pointed out, the numerical strength of the Party and the national and democratic traditions of the country clashed with the rigid revolutionary demands of the 'third International. By 1931, two years after Klement Gottwald became the Party's leader, membership had dropped to 40.000. In the late 1930s, under the inilu enceof Popular front ideas, the popularity of the Party increased, and in 1938 membership rose to 100,000. During the war, the headquarters of the democratic government-in exile tinder President Hdvard BeneS was in London, while ihe Communist Parly representation under Gottwald was in Moscow. With the Soviet Union in alliance with the Western allies and a growing Communist influence in the (Czechoslovak underground movement, it was logical for Benes and Gottwald to collaborate. Around 191.1 the idea developed of what was later to be called a 'specific Czevhnslovak road to socialism. Ihe idea that Czechoslovak Socialism could, at the same time, emhrace nationalism, democracy and Communism was carefully nurtured, and Gottwald repeatedly slressed the fact that Czechoslovak Socialism would not follow the Soviet model. During the Soviet presence (which ended in the summer oj 1 p, 'national committees" were set up, led by activists trained in Moscow. (iottwaid was also able to ensure Communist control of the key ministries Interior and Information. In the 19)6 election, the Communist Party polled 3S% of the vote, and became ihe country's strongest political party. What is important to note was the existence of genuine popular support that maintained democratic and national ideals. As Cecil Parroll suggested, the Czechoslovak Communists 'unlike the Russians ... took democracy for granted'.1" Jifi Pelikan, a former member of die Parly's Central Committee and head of the state television service, pointed oul that Czechoslovakia was distinguished from the other Pastern riuropean countries liberated by the Soviet Union in two important ways: lil the existence of a legal Communist Parly in the prewar period; and (iit the possession of an industrial working class with revolutionary and democratic traditions. Ihere was also no Soviet mili tarv presence. It was precisely because of this potential for independent development that Stalinist repression proved greater than elsewhere. As early as 1932, the Secretary (leneral of the (Czechoslovak Communisl Party, Rudolf Slanskv, was put on trial, convicted and executed. Ot the fourteen leading Communists arresfed at the lime, eleven were executed and three were sentenced to life imprisonment. If is also noteworthy that eleven out of the fourteen accused were |ewish. If non-Communists are included, the purges are calculated to have included some 136,0(10 victims through death, imprisonment and internment. Among those sentenced was the post invasion Secretary Genera] of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, Gustav [ fusak. (In this respect, his late was similar to that of other Kastern European politicians who later turned back'the tide of reform - Wladystaw Gomulka in Poland and lanos Kadarin Hungary) If. in 195fi. the dale normally accepted for the beginning of de-Stalinisation following Khrushchev's speech at the 20th Party (Congress, [Czechoslovakia failed to respond with ihe alacrity of other countries, it was not surprising. Ihe natural base for any extensive reform had already been removed. Nevertheless, it is from this time that one must date the beginning of the sell examination thai was to lead to Ihe Prague Spring of 1968. Intellectuals and siudeuts did make a stand. At the 2nd Writers' (Congress of April 1936, writers such as Ladislav Mnacko and the poets CVranlisek Hrtfbin and Jaroslav Seiferl criticised Stalinist practices, and managed to elect a liberal presidium. On May Day [956, student processions in Bratislava and Prague demanded liberalisation and greater contacts with the West. In 1957 and 1958, the first films of the Czechoslovak filmmakers 1 have referred to as the 'first Wave' made their appearance. However, any far-reaching developments were fairly rapidly nipped in ihe bud, and at the Writers' Congress of 1939 the conservatives were returned to leadership. In the same year, the conference at Banska Bystrica ensured the banning of most of the critical films produced in Ihe previous year and a reorganisation of the management of the Barrandov Pilm Studios. " Vladimir Kusin has shown how the revelations of 1956 and the need to explain the Stalinist experience affected almost all aspects of intellectual lite m the late 1950s. Ota Sik, who was to play a leading role in the economic reforms, writes: Ihe shock ot Khrushchev's historic speech was such that my former political activity lost all meaning lor me. Naturally, [ could not lie satisfied wit It the ingenuous argument that the cult of Stalin' was (he root of alt evil. 1 had to decide either to leave the Communist Party, orlostay in order, by long-term, patient and systematic work, lohelp change the system. With a few like-minded friends 1 opted for ihe latter course. >iks reaction was not unique, and it is clear that a good deal of thinking was going on behind closed doors. Ihe changes of (he 1960s owed their development initially to the 12th Congress of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, held in December 1%2. Oulwardly con-formisi, it nevertheless made one important concession the establishment of a commis-