Rating: 
Summary: Very funny and very Czech.
Review: A small story about small events; young girls in a factory town looking for love and being mostly disappointed. Still, it resonates, mostly due to Forman's choice of images. Strange how a movie about stultifying desperation can also be funny and not entirely hopeless. Another good one from Forman.
Rating: 
Summary: Silly title--great film
Review: Andula (Hana Brejchova) is a young factory worker who lives in a dorm with other young women in the dreary town of Zruc during Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Life is empty and unfulfilling, and boys are scarce. Andula, a girl with a sad past of her own that is only hinted at, seeks escape from hopelessness in love.
Lest the above description seem too depressing, let me add that this film is often very funny, particularly in a scene where a trio of middle-aged reservists approach Andula and her friends at a social mixer. Director Milos Forman states in an interview that part of his motivation for making films was in reaction against the absurd socialist realism school of the time, which depicted socialist societies as paradises on earth. In this seemingly slight film about a young girl's romance, he shows much of the unhappiness and hopelessness of such a society while also presenting his characters with great warmth and affection. The actors in this film are wonderful and natural, with great faces. Forman observes human behavior very closely and emerges with a story about people with whom everyone can empathize, delivering once again the valuable lesson of any great film--no matter where or when we were born, we are more like each other than unlike.
Rating:
Summary: One of Milos Forman's Best
Review: Don't get me wrong. I love AMADEUS and CUCKOO's NEST etc. But this was just such a quietly funny and enjoyable film, I have to say it may almost be my favorite from Milos Forman. I think I first heard it spoken of by James Mangold(in the commentary for his film HEAVY). Mangold was in awe of Milos Forman and also enjoyed Ozu's films. That being said, I was quite excited for the dvd to be released, and was not at all dissapointed in the film. It's really funny and heartbreaking-I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: Observant little human comedy from Milos Forman
Review: Here's another great film that sprung forth from the Czech New Wave: another film that, through its small gestures and subtleties makes some big statements. I'll leave it for you all to discover Forman's delightful insights into human behavior in LOVES OF A BLONDE. Suffice it to say, the plot---which involves a young girl's (Hana Brejchová) attempt to find true love as a factory girl---could have become whimsical and even sentimental in other hands. In Forman's, the whole thing is grounded on earth. Instead of being a weightless romantic comedy, LOVES OF A BLONDE aims for realism, and while Forman maintains a relatively light touch on the proceedings, everything that happens to her---she finds love in a piano player, makes love to him one night, and then eventually pursues him to his home, where she meets his ever-bickering parents---still has its own kind of weight to it. The only way I can describe it is, I guess, the weight of real life. I haven't seen a more accurate recreation of a marriage that has dulled out in any other movie than I saw in the second half of LOVES OF A BLONDE, with Milda's parents: it is comic, yes, but it is also uncannily realistic, and maybe you'll recognize your own parents when you see the control-freak mother and the carefree father in this film. As for the blonde of the movie...well, she doesn't necessarily become sympathetic as the movie progresses, but we get a sense of why she begins to attach herself to the piano player Milda: she sees him as an escape from the drudgeries of factory life. Understand that, and you'll find the ending of this film poignant and maybe kinda sad. (Her dream has been shattered, but she keeps on believing it anyway, either out of hope or simply desperation.)
But enough of my pretentious analysis, hehe. The point is, Milos Forman's LOVES OF A BLONDE, like Jiri Menzel's arguably more celebrated CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS, is a film that, though short at 85 minutes, takes its time to observe human nature in the face of oppression, in its own light and subtle way. Its comic surface only makes it seem like a slight movie; but in its subtleties and scenes of comic observation, it has a heck of a lot more to say about our little human foibles than a lot of other romantic comedies do. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: CITY OF WOMEN
Review: Ivan Passer and Milos Forman, who wrote the screenplay of LOVES OF A BLONDE in 1965, left Czechoslovakia for Hollywood 30 years ago. While Milos Forman directed some hits like ONE FLEW OVER A CUCKOO'S NEST or AMADEUS, Ivan Passer had a less successful career, in terms of boxoffice, even if one can consider his movie CUTTER'S WAY (1981) as one of the most important american films of the eighties. So no wonder if Criterion has chosen to present this winter the two movies they wrote together back in the 60's : LOVES OF A BLONDE and FIREMEN'S BALL.LOVES OF A BLONDE is a bittersweet comedy, in fact less sweet than bitter, relating the anxieties of the young women of an industrial small town. These girls are desperately looking for the man of their dreams while the male population of the town doesn't exceed the tenth of the female number. So when Andula is seduced by the pianist of a Praguan band and is invited to come to his place if she ever comes to the Czechoslovakian capital, she doesn't hesitate. Needless to say that the pianist will be a little annoyed when Andula knocks at his parents's door in the middle of the night. So one smiles a lot during LOVES OF A BLONDE, particularly at the ball scene involving middle-aged reservists soldiers who can't believe their eyes in front of the numerous women available for dancing. One smiles a little less as an almost documentary camera lingers on the girl's faces waiting to be invited for a dance. Tragedy is never far away in this movie you can not disregard if you're interested in the revival of european cinema during the 60's. The bonus features include a deleted scene and a recent video interview of Milos Forman. Sound and images superb even if a vertical black line is visible during the first minutes of the film. A DVD zone Adam and Evas.
Rating:
Summary: Did you invite her here?
Review: Milos Forman doesn't get the respect he deserves amongst the ranks of the great foreign directors. This is probably because he has made mostly English language films, but I would still put him up there. Having seen this film though, it makes sense. One has to look no further than Loves of a Blonde to see this man easily had the potential to make great movies...in any language. Loves of a Blonde focuses on a few days in the life of teenager named Andula. She lives in a town with a female-to-male ratio of sixteen to one. At a singles mixer, while several bumbling military men try to hit on Andula and her two girlfriends, she meets a piano player named Rilda. Things pick up quickly with Rilda and she eventually hitches to Prague to hook up with him. The situation turns out to be a little different than she expected as she finds him still living with his conservative parents. This film is charming. Forman is on top of his game blending comedy and social comment almost seamlessly. The narrative structure is unique too. At the center of the picture is Andula, she is the antagonist for most of the film's action, but the film allows the supporting players to be the main focus of the scenes they are in. Andula watches, she listens, she reacts, and while the story is ultimately about her coming of age, it is her interaction with the people around her that make this story interesting. From One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to Amadeus to The People vs. Larry Flynt, Milos Forman always delivers. This film is no exception, and it has stood the test of time. So if you like those films check out Loves of a Blonde.
Rating:
Summary: Did you invite her here?
Review: Milos Forman doesn't get the respect he deserves amongst the ranks of the great foreign directors. This is probably because he has made mostly English language films, but I would still put him up there. Having seen this film though, it makes sense. One has to look no further than Loves of a Blonde to see this man easily had the potential to make great movies...in any language. Loves of a Blonde focuses on a few days in the life of teenager named Andula. She lives in a town with a female-to-male ratio of sixteen to one. At a singles mixer, while several bumbling military men try to hit on Andula and her two girlfriends, she meets a piano player named Rilda. Things pick up quickly with Rilda and she eventually hitches to Prague to hook up with him. The situation turns out to be a little different than she expected as she finds him still living with his conservative parents. This film is charming. Forman is on top of his game blending comedy and social comment almost seamlessly. The narrative structure is unique too. At the center of the picture is Andula, she is the antagonist for most of the film's action, but the film allows the supporting players to be the main focus of the scenes they are in. Andula watches, she listens, she reacts, and while the story is ultimately about her coming of age, it is her interaction with the people around her that make this story interesting. From One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to Amadeus to The People vs. Larry Flynt, Milos Forman always delivers. This film is no exception, and it has stood the test of time. So if you like those films check out Loves of a Blonde.
Rating:
Summary: SLY CZECH NEW WAVE STILL WORKS
Review: Milos Forman made a name for himself with Czech new wave films that challenged the old order with slyly defiant themes of freedom in all its personal and political manifestations. Two of his landmark early films have been restored in image and sound and digitally transferred in clean, crisp-looking prints with improved English subtitles. Forman earned his first Academy Award © nomination with "LOVES OF A BLOND". In 1966, when it premiered in America at the New York Film Festival, it was an immediate sensation. Even Bosley Crowther, the notoriously tight-laced chief critic for the pompous New York Times could hardly contain himself when he experienced this efficacious, subtle social satire disguised as an exploration of adolescent romantic desire. The story is set in the rural Czech town of Zruc. With a ratio of sixteen women to every man, the chances of factory worker Andula finding love are indeed slim. That is until her giggling girl friends talk her into going to a mixer where she meets Rilda, a devil-may-care piano player from Prague. As the three acts unfold, there's a feeling of real time as issues of intimacy, confinement, dreams, delusions, reality and freedom are explored in the context of their relationship And there's nothing preachy or heavy-handed like some other films of the era that are infected with a deadly hidden political agenda that numbs any entertainment value. This one is pure. Universal in its humanity, the romance of Andula and Milda mirrors all our hopes and fears. Extras include a new video interview with Forman, a deleted scenes and new English subtitles. In many ways, this film is linked to another that is worth noting. "THE FIREMAN'S BALL" takes place in tiny Czech village of the 60s. Every year the firmen put on a ball and this is a look at the whacky goings. Real townspeople mostly play themselves in this dark comic satire of life under Soviet style communism. Funny, scary and meaningful. The tone is not unlike "American Beauty" in that the naked truth is sharply revealed. High praise to Criterion for continuing the tradition of gathering the greatest films from the finest filmmakers around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements.
Rating:
Summary: SLY CZECH NEW WAVE STILL WORKS
Review: Milos Forman made a name for himself with Czech new wave films that challenged the old order with slyly defiant themes of freedom in all its personal and political manifestations. Two of his landmark early films have been restored in image and sound and digitally transferred in clean, crisp-looking prints with improved English subtitles. Forman earned his first Academy Award © nomination with "LOVES OF A BLOND". In 1966, when it premiered in America at the New York Film Festival, it was an immediate sensation. Even Bosley Crowther, the notoriously tight-laced chief critic for the pompous New York Times could hardly contain himself when he experienced this efficacious, subtle social satire disguised as an exploration of adolescent romantic desire. The story is set in the rural Czech town of Zruc. With a ratio of sixteen women to every man, the chances of factory worker Andula finding love are indeed slim. That is until her giggling girl friends talk her into going to a mixer where she meets Rilda, a devil-may-care piano player from Prague. As the three acts unfold, there's a feeling of real time as issues of intimacy, confinement, dreams, delusions, reality and freedom are explored in the context of their relationship And there's nothing preachy or heavy-handed like some other films of the era that are infected with a deadly hidden political agenda that numbs any entertainment value. This one is pure. Universal in its humanity, the romance of Andula and Milda mirrors all our hopes and fears. Extras include a new video interview with Forman, a deleted scenes and new English subtitles. In many ways, this film is linked to another that is worth noting. "THE FIREMAN'S BALL" takes place in tiny Czech village of the 60s. Every year the firmen put on a ball and this is a look at the whacky goings. Real townspeople mostly play themselves in this dark comic satire of life under Soviet style communism. Funny, scary and meaningful. The tone is not unlike "American Beauty" in that the naked truth is sharply revealed. High praise to Criterion for continuing the tradition of gathering the greatest films from the finest filmmakers around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements.
Rating:
Summary: Irresistable blend of attitude and style and content
Review: The premise of the story is funny-- a village full of women factory workers who live crammed together in dorms needs men so the factory owner charmingly pleads with the military to send an attachment of men to the town to give his girls something to do with their evenings but when the men show up they are all middle aged, the young girls are disappointed. What is even funnier is Formans attitude and style which borrows some tricks in cutting and impromptu time shifts from the French New Wave directors but adds to this famous style a lucid charm that is irresistable. The cutting techniques innovated by the French New Wave directors emphasized the looseness and spontaneity of life but Formans sense of humor is such that he cannot help parodying the techniques he is emulating. For instance in the dance hall sequence the camera slowly pans the feet of the band members which makes for an absurdly enjoyable incidental. French New Wave in technique but the humor is charmingly Czech in tone. The storyline makes some poignant observations about the new social mores of the 1960's--a married soldier trying to meet girls drops his wedding ring and proceeds to watch it roll across the dance floor where it falls to rest beneath a table of single girls. The title character dreams of a young man to take her away from her grim life as factory worker living in a dorm full of girls but since the men she meets do not take her away she decides to take matters into her own hands and follows one to his hometown. But arriving there she is greeted only with more grim reality. She returns home to her factory job and dorm and finds solace in make-believe as she tells her girlfriends a version of the events which conforms to her dreams. Very touching, wise, and satisfying film from a filmmaker who exhibits a fondness for all his characters. No one escapes Formans lighthearted satire nor his empathy which embraces all forms of life, young and old. Remarkably light and poignant at the same time. Czech and Polish films of this period strike an irresistable chord and are some of the most irresistable films ever made. Also recommended: Closely Watched Trains.
|
