THE FIREMEN'S BALL Movie Review

Hori, Ma Panenko

Milos Forman's third feature film—set in a small Czech town not long before Soviet tanks invaded the country—is a poignant, brilliantly inventive comedy in which the smallest moments converge to form an enormous impression. At this year's edition of the annual celebration held by the town's volunteer fire brigade, the main order of business is to stage a beauty pageant to produce one lucky girl whose privilege it will be to present a gift to the 86-year-old, terminally ill, retiring commander. Things begin to go wrong—such as the head cheese being stolen—but soon the smaller catastrophes spiral into a hopelessly funny series of unexpected but all-too-human failings, ultimately resulting in the one disaster that the brigade exists to prevent. A wry, metaphorical microcosm of an old and traditional society on the brink of collapse, The Firemen's Ball remains one of the key works of the glorious Czech film renaissance of the 1960s, and a bitter reminder of its brutal and violent demise. In 1968, following the Soviet takeover, Forman emigrated to Hollywood, where an enormously successful career awaited him (his credits here include One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, and The People vs. Larry Flynt). (American prints of The Firemen's Ball begin with Forman himself placing the film in context; if you can read between the lines, you'll find his comments a sly and priceless commentary.)

NEXT STOP … Loves of a Blonde, The Deserter and the Nomads, Taking Off

1968 73m/C CZ Vaclav Stockel, Josef Svet; D: Milos Forman; W: Ivan Passer, Jaroslav Papousek, Vaclav Sasek, Milos Forman; M: Karel Mares. Nominations: Academy Awards '68: Best Foreign-Language Film. VHS HMV, COL, BTV