Czech Modernism (1926-1948)

[joe]

In May and June the National Gallery is having a series called "Czech Modernism":

Unfortunately my knowledge of Czech film begins with the New Wave. Can someone more educated than I recommend specific films/filmmakers from this group? Any general thoughts on Czech film of the period? Helpful links? Thanks.

Joe

[leo goldsmith]

Machaty and Vancura are the MVP's here. That lecture sounds like a blast, too.

[portnoy]

I caught a couple films from this series when it played at BAM this past fall. The highlights for me were On the Sunny Side and The Distant Journey. I rather like Machaty's Erotikon and Ecstasy (neither playing here) but didn't particularly love From Saturday to Sunday (and didn't get to see The Kreutzer Sonata, unfortunately).

[petoluk]

I rather like Machaty's Erotikon...

FYI, Erotikon has been released on DVD here in Czech Republic not long ago. It's a double-disc with tons of extras, unfortunately, only the feature film is subtitled in English. Here 's a tech review of the set.

[whaleallright]

Neat. Are there many other older Czech films available on DVD with English subtitles? And where is a good source for purchasing EROTIKON from abroad?

[MichaelB]

I generally use dvdr.cz for Czech purchases - the site at least pays lip service to being English-friendly, and I've never had any problems with them.

They also have quite a handy search facility where you can list DVDs in reverse order of release date, so I can keep an eye on what's come out - go to 'Extended Search', and enter 'DVD' for 'Carrier' and 'Cesky Film' for 'Czech only, Intersonic' (they're multiple choice options so you don't need to worry about spelling) .

Incidentally, the Erotikon presentation is excellent - the picture is probably as good as it realistically can be, and Jan Klusák's full orchestral score suits it very well. Shame about the lack of subs on the extras, though, as there's a ton of material.

On the basis of the dozen or so titles I've seen, Filmexport Home Video (which handles Erotikon and about a hundred other titles from the 1920s to the 1960s) is a very consistent label - the main feature almost invariably has English subtitles (and well-written, idiomatic ones at that), and transfer quality is excellent. The other labels are more variable - Centrum Ä

[Cold Bishop]

This is playing in Portland this upcoming month. Any thoughts on the film, from those who have seen it? Which film in the series are must-sees?