The Films of Milos Forman
Date: Sat, July 19th 2008 - Wed, September 3rd 2008External Link: Event Website
Event Tags: The Movies
Location: AFI Silver Theatre & Cultural Center
THE FILMS OF MILOŠ FORMAN
The international commercial and critical success of Miloš Forman's films is a testament to his blend of passionate, personal interpretation, a remarkable ability to capture the zeitgeist, and a healthy dose of black humor. This retrospective celebrates the unique vision he has sustained over 45 years.
Based on intelligent scripts, Forman's work is characterized by a sharp anti-authoritarian spirit and a lucid, heartfelt humanism. His films maintain an intoxicating relevance to contemporary living by identifying iconic trends and events--evident both in his early features (LOVES OF A BLONDE, THE FIREMEN'S BALL), which helped jump-start the legendary Czech New Wave in the mid-1960s, and in his renegade Hollywood films from the 1970s to today (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT). A master of his metier from his career's inception (AUDITION, 1963), Forman developed an unmistakable style in collaboration with his longtime cinematographer, Miroslav Ondricek, that is marked by fastidious attention to set design details (exemplified by his much-admired period films of the 1980s), augmented by a rare insight into the nuances of performance.
Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film, Museum of Modern Art, with the kind collaboration of The Czech Center, New York; The National Film Archive, Prague; and Irena Kovarova, independent curator and tour manager. With warm thanks to Ceska Televize for their loan of prints to this series. All notes courtesy of Jytte Jensen, Museum of Modern Art.
In Person August 19: Miloš Forman at the 7:00 show of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
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AFI Member passes will be accepted at all screenings in the Miloš Forman Series. |
THE FIREMEN'S BALL [Horí, má panenko]
The last film Forman made in his homeland is perhaps the finest example of the Czech New Wave's trademark combination of warm humanism and stinging social commentary. A party organized by a small-town fire department builds into comic mayhem and thinly veiled political allegory in this satire, which was banned by the Czechoslovakian government. This deceptively simple masterpiece is a sharp, lucid representation of human weakness and moral decay.
DIR/SCR Miloš Forman; SCR Jaroslav Papousek and Ivan Passer, based on the story by Vaclav Sasek; PROD Rudolf Hajek. Czechoslovakia/Italy, 1967, color, 71 min. In Czech with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Saturday, July 19, 5:25; Monday, July 21, 7:00
TAKING OFF
In this dark, affectionate, and rarely seen satire, a husband and wife embark on a wild goose chase after their runaway daughter and wind up experimenting with the wild habits of youth counterculture. In his first film after migrating to the US in the wake of the Soviet crackdown, Forman offers a fresh, idiosyncratic perspective on his adopted country. Ike and Tina Turner contribute an electrifying performance.
DIR/SCR Miloš Forman; SCR Jean-Claude Carrière, John Guare and Jon Klein; PROD Alfred W. Crown. US, 1971, color, 93 min. RATED R
Sunday, July 20, 5:40; Tuesday, July 22, 7:00
LOVES OF A BLONDE [Lásky jedné plavovlásky]
Forman's breakthrough film, a commentary on the perils of totalitarianism, follows the everyday life and sexual fumbles of a naive teenage girl in a dreary town. A cornerstone of the Czech New Wave, the film grapples with the realities of injustice and disillusionment, yet its international popularity was due in part to the optimism and tenderness of its outlook.
DIR/SCR Miloš Forman; SCR Jaroslav Papousek, Ivan Passer and Václav Sasek; PROD Rudolf Hájek and Doro Vlado Hreljanovic. Czechoslovakia, 1965, b&w, 88 min. In Czech with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Saturday, July 26, 5:05; Tuesday, July 29, 7:00
BLACK PETER [Cerný Petr]
An empathic look at the alienation of Czech youth, Forman's first fiction feature depicts the miserable title character at his day job and after work when he clashes with his old-fashioned father and pines for a classmate. Employing nonprofessional actors, improvisation, and vérité camera work, as well as a gently ironic, antiauthoritarian tone, the film exhibits the qualities that would place Forman at the forefront of the Czech New Wave and anticipates his future success on the 1970s Hollywood auteur scene.
DIR/SCR Miloš Forman; SCR Jaroslav Papousek; PROD Rudolf Hájek. Czechoslovakia, 1964, b&w, 85 min. In Czech with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Sunday, July 27, 5:05; Monday, July 28, 7:00
AUDITION [Konkurs]
This mix of documentary and fiction offers a humorous look at different kinds of competitions and the motivations of their talented (and less-than-talented) participants. Set to a wonderful soundtrack that includes Czech pop, folk, and orchestral music, Forman's first major work is both light and passionate in tone.
DIR/SCR Miloš Forman; SCR Ivan Passer. Czechoslovakia, 1963, b&w, 47 min. In Czech with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Saturday, August 2, 2:30; Sunday, August 3, 8:00
HAIR
A triumph of the musical genre, and an uplifting recollection of America during the Vietnam War, Forman's take on the Broadway sensation celebrates reckless behavior through Twyla Tharp's energetic choreography and a string of unforgettable anthems. Released at the end of the 1970s, the film is marked by a strong nostalgia for the politically charged mood, raw passions, and youthful anxieties of the previous decade.
DIR Miloš Forman; SCR Michael Weller, based on the musical book by Gerome Ragni and James Rado; PROD Michael Butler and Lester Persky. US/West Germany, 1979, color, 121 min. RATED PG
Friday, August 8, 7:20; Saturday, August 9, 7:20
In Person August 19: Director Miloš Forman!*
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
One of Forman's most acclaimed films, this adaptation of Ken Kesey's widely-read anti-establishment novel stars Jack Nicholson as a convict in a psychiatric hospital who leads his fellow patients in defying the icy Nurse Ratched, one of the greatest villains in film history (#5 on AFI's 100 Heroes and Villains list!). This rallying cry against authority and conformity struck a nerve with viewers and became the second movie ever to win all five major Academy Awards.
DIR Miloš Forman; SCR Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey and the play by Dale Wasserman; PROD Michael Douglas and Saul Zaentz. US, 1975, color, 133 min. RATED R
Sunday, August 17, 7:20; Tuesday, August 19, 7:00*; Wednesday, August 20, 7:00
RAGTIME
Driven by his experience of injustice and personal loss, Coalhouse Walker, a black piano player, sets off a nationwide campaign of terror in 1906 New York. Forman's adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's novel dramatizes the interconnection of lives (both actual and imaginary) across the American social spectrum, capturing the sense of possibility and political awakening at the turn of the 20th Century. The large cast features remarkable young talent alongside the great James Cagney, who returned from retirement to star in this sprawling epic.
DIR Miloš Forman; Michael Weller and Heinrich von Kleist, based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow; PROD Dino De Laurentiis. US, 1981, color, 155 min. RATED PG
Sunday, August 24, 3:30; Monday, August 25, 4:30; Tuesday, August 26, 6:45
AMADEUS
Plagued by jealousy of--and admiration for--his rival, Mozart, the mediocre court composer Salieri narrates his encounters with the childish but sublimely gifted prodigy. This visually lavish period piece--which mixes fact and fiction, high art and vulgarity, meticulous detail and jarring anachronism--tears through the stuffy conventions of the genre with a swell of operatic emotions. Filmed in Prague, the production was Forman's first return to his homeland.
DIR Miloš Forman; SCR Peter Shaffer, based on his play; PROD Saul Zaentz. US, 1984, color, 160 min. RATED PG
Sunday, August 31, 4:15; Monday, September 1, 4:15; Tuesday, September 2, 4:00; Wednesday, September 3, 3:00