A Report on the Party and Guests

...but if is has one it is no doubt subversive. That was the British Board of Film Censors' verdict on another surrealist film, and the same is true here. It isn't about communist coups or subversion; it's about the contradictions of human nature and that makes it much more dangerous than any ostensibly revolutionary or counter-revolutionary film. The host- who says he loves surprises but hates surprises he has not arranged himself- is more like a self-made businessman or an old-fashioned nobleman than any apparatchik and even more like god- he wants everyone to enjoy his banquet and is hurt if they don't, and takes drastic measures if his generosity is rejected, while his eccentric son tries to fulfil his desires.

Bland and pointless. At just over 1 hour in length, it drags on for what feels like a much longer time. At best, this movie might be useful for its soporific effect; it could very easily lull a tired person to sleep with its slow pace and meaninglessness. Beyond that, it's just another pretentious "art" project by someone who wanted to make a movie but had nothing to provide the viewers other than a small bit of surrealism.

A group of happy picnickers are accosted by a group of strangers led by a bullying sadist who has an unbreakable hold over his followers. After he interrogates one of them, a stranger then invites everyone to a nonsensical, but elegant and formal banquet outdoors.

How can you beat being distinguished by being "banned forever" in the Czech Republic? That is just about the greatest selling point. As another person said, "Jan Nemec's 'A Report on the Party' is a great film from the flowering of the Czech cinema in the 1960s. It is a political thriller that satirizes unquestionable conformity."

Indeed, Czech cinema of the 1950s and 1960s is incredible, and this film (along with "Daisies") really needs to be seen by more people, particularly Americans. When we think "foreign film", we might think Italian or French, possibly Russian. With the "new wave", it is France that seems to hold that title tightly. But no one ever says they love Czech cinema. And the only reason for that can be that nobody watches it -- but they should.

It's a political allegory set in 1966 Czechoslovakia that was banned for many years except for a short time during Prague Spring in 1968.

The story follows a group of seven middle-class men and women having a picnic near a lake. There is a discussion about an obscure future event. At one point, they see what appears to be a wedding party dance by at a distance. They finally decide to proceed to get to the "celebration" in time.

Suddenly, the group is accosted by a significant number of men. The men are led by Rudolf (Jan Klusak). It's not clear if they are threatening or joking. Karel (Karel Mares) defies Rudolf at one point and is roughed up. Josef (Jirí Nemec) from the picnic group helps to bring peace. Then an older man in white appears. Known as The Host (Ivan Vyskocil), he welcomes everyone to his joint birthday party and wedding celebration. He reprimands Rudolph and seems to smooth everything over.

During the meal, the Host learns his guests occupy the wrong seats and that one of the men from the picnic has left. This causes great consternation, and the Host and Rudolf decide to go and find the missing man and return him to the party. They use a large dog with massive teeth to aid in the search.

The aura of threat over a façade of peace apparently offended the Czech government of the time. This is not usually my type of film, but I thought it effectively communicated its point. It was banned in 1967 because it had "nothing in common with our republic, socialism, and the ideals of Communism."

The Czech film O slavnosti a hostech (1966) was shown in the U. S. with the translated title A Report on the Party and the Guests. It was co-written and directed by Jan Nemec.

This movie starts off innocently enough. Several friends are enjoying a picnic in the woods. Suddenly, about a dozen men interrupt the picnic, and, politely, but firmly, escort the group to a new location. One of the picnickers is roughed up, but no one is badly hurt.

Then, another man, who is in charge, invites the picnickers to an outdoor wedding party. The whole situation is threatening, but not terrible. Much is made of one of the picnickers who decides to leave, but the other picnickers decide to stay to enjoy the party.

This film was immediately banned when it was completed. The government knew that it was an implied attack on the authorities who ruled Czechoslovakia with an iron fist. It was released during the Czech Spring period, but then banned again after the Russian tanks rolled into Prague. It wasn't released until Soviet rule ended.

This was a difficult movie to enjoy. After the first few minutes, the plot was very tense. On a more basic level, we saw the film on an old VHS cassette, which was in bad condition, and may have been a duplicate. The subtitles were often white on white, so we missed some of the dialog.

The film has an IMDb rating of 7.1, which is pretty good, all things considered. I rated it 8 for the movie I would have seen if I'd watched it on DVD.