| Revision as of 14:11, 29 October 2012 editKhazar2 (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers191,299 edits fr:La Plaisanterie (film) pl:Żart (film 1968)← Previous edit | Revision as of 22:28, 29 October 2012 edit undoCrisco 1492 (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Administrators137,652 edits c.e.Next edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{DISPLAYTITLE:''The Joke'' (film)}} | |||
| {{Infobox film | {{Infobox film | ||
| | name = The Joke | | name = The Joke | ||
| Line 14: | Line 13: | ||
| | based on = {{based on|'']''|Milan Kundera}} | | based on = {{based on|'']''|Milan Kundera}} | ||
| | narrator = | | narrator = | ||
| | starring = ], ], ] |
| starring = ], ], ] | ||
| | music = ] | | music = ] | ||
| | cinematography = ] | | cinematography = ] | ||
| Line 33: | Line 32: | ||
| == Plot == | == Plot == | ||
| The |
The scientist Ludvik Jahn returns to his hometown after two decades away. He is interviewed by Helena, an attractive older woman whom he begins to seduce. Jahn then discovers Helena is married to Pavel, an old rival. | ||
| Jahn flashes back to his college days and his love for Marketa, a devout believer in communism. In an attempt to make the humorless Marketa lighten up, Jahn sends her a postcard reading "Optimism is the opium of mankind. A 'healthy spirit' stinks of stupidity. Long live Trotsky! Yours, Ludvik". Marketa turns the postcard over to the Party, however, and Jahn is brought before a party hearing to answer for his words. Pavel, a friend who had pledged to help him, calls in the meeting for Jahn's expulsion from the college and the Communist Party, and Marketa joins the vote against him. | Jahn flashes back to his college days and his love for Marketa, a devout believer in communism. In an attempt to make the humorless Marketa lighten up, Jahn sends her a postcard reading "Optimism is the opium of mankind. A 'healthy spirit' stinks of stupidity. Long live Trotsky! Yours, Ludvik". Marketa turns the postcard over to the Party, however, and Jahn is brought before a party hearing to answer for his words. Pavel, a friend who had pledged to help him, calls in the meeting for Jahn's expulsion from the college and the Communist Party, and Marketa joins the vote against him. | ||
| Jahn then undergoes six years of "reeducation", which are split between prison, mining, and army service under a sadistic drill sergeant. While in the army, a true believer of communism in his unit appeals to higher authorities against their treatment; when the man is consequently expelled from the Party, he commits suicide. |
Jahn then undergoes six years of "reeducation", which are split between prison, mining, and army service under a sadistic drill sergeant. While in the army, a true believer of communism in his unit appeals to higher authorities against their treatment; when the man is consequently expelled from the Party, he commits suicide. | ||
| In the present, Jahn successfully seduces Helena, motivated more from a desire for revenge on Pavel than attraction to her. Though Helena falls in love with him, he discovers that she and Pavel have long been estranged, and Pavel has a new lover of his own. | In the present, Jahn successfully seduces Helena, motivated more from a desire for revenge on Pavel than attraction to her. Though Helena falls in love with him, he discovers that she and Pavel have long been estranged, and Pavel has a new lover of his own. | ||
| == Reception == | == Reception == | ||
| ''The Joke'' was released in 1969, some months after the August 1968 ] had put an end to the freedoms of the Prague Spring. Though a success in theaters, authorities banned it for the next twenty years, making it "one of the New Wave’s most renowned casualties".<ref name=CC/> |
''The Joke'' was released in 1969, some months after the August 1968 ] had put an end to the freedoms of the Prague Spring. Though a success in theaters, authorities banned it for the next twenty years, making it "one of the New Wave’s most renowned casualties".<ref name=CC/> | ||
| The film was released on DVD in 2012 by the ]'s ] line. Criterion essayist Michael Koresky described the film as regarded as "the definitive take on the Stalinist era in Czechoslovakia".<ref name=CC/> '']'' stated that ''The Joke'' was "a modest, quiet film" that was "permeated with irony", though its ironic juxtapositions were occasionally heavy-handed, such as cutting between a group singing the revolutionary song "No More Masters" and Jahn and other prisoners breaking rocks in a quarry.<ref name=C>{{cite journal |author=Leonard Quart |year= |title=''The Joke'' |journal=Cineaste |volume=Fall 2003 |pages=60-1 |accessdate=26 October 2012}}</ref> | The film was released on DVD in 2012 by the ]'s ] line. Criterion essayist Michael Koresky described the film as regarded as "the definitive take on the Stalinist era in Czechoslovakia".<ref name=CC/> '']'' stated that ''The Joke'' was "a modest, quiet film" that was "permeated with irony", though its ironic juxtapositions were occasionally heavy-handed, such as cutting between a group singing the revolutionary song "No More Masters" and Jahn and other prisoners breaking rocks in a quarry.<ref name=C>{{cite journal |author=Leonard Quart |year= |title=''The Joke'' |journal=Cineaste |volume=Fall 2003 |pages=60-1 |accessdate=26 October 2012}}</ref> | ||
| Line 53: | Line 52: | ||
| * {{AllRovi movie|141296|The Joke}} | * {{AllRovi movie|141296|The Joke}} | ||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Joke (film), The}} | |||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 22:28, 29 October 2012
Czechoslovakia film| The Joke | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jaromil Jireš |
| Screenplay by | Jaromil Jires and Milan Kundera |
| Produced by | Milos Stejskal |
| Starring | Josef Somr, Jana Dítetová, Ludek Munzar |
| Cinematography | Jan Curík |
| Edited by | Josef Valusiak |
| Music by | Zdenek Pololáník |
| Running time | 81 min |
| Country | Czechoslovakia |
| Language | Czech |
The Joke (Template:Lang-cs) is a 1969 Czechoslovakian film by director Jaromil Jireš. It is considered one of the last films of the Czech New Wave movement.
Based on Milan Kundera's novel of the same name, The Joke tells the story of Ludvik Jahn, a man expelled from the Czechoslovakian Communist Party for an idle joke to his girlfriend, and the revenge he later seeks through adultery. The film was produced during the political liberalization of the 1968 Prague Spring and contains many scenes which satirize and criticize the country's communist leadership. Amos Vogel wrote that the film was "possibly the most shattering indictment of totalitarianism to come out of a Communist country".
Plot
The scientist Ludvik Jahn returns to his hometown after two decades away. He is interviewed by Helena, an attractive older woman whom he begins to seduce. Jahn then discovers Helena is married to Pavel, an old rival.
Jahn flashes back to his college days and his love for Marketa, a devout believer in communism. In an attempt to make the humorless Marketa lighten up, Jahn sends her a postcard reading "Optimism is the opium of mankind. A 'healthy spirit' stinks of stupidity. Long live Trotsky! Yours, Ludvik". Marketa turns the postcard over to the Party, however, and Jahn is brought before a party hearing to answer for his words. Pavel, a friend who had pledged to help him, calls in the meeting for Jahn's expulsion from the college and the Communist Party, and Marketa joins the vote against him.
Jahn then undergoes six years of "reeducation", which are split between prison, mining, and army service under a sadistic drill sergeant. While in the army, a true believer of communism in his unit appeals to higher authorities against their treatment; when the man is consequently expelled from the Party, he commits suicide.
In the present, Jahn successfully seduces Helena, motivated more from a desire for revenge on Pavel than attraction to her. Though Helena falls in love with him, he discovers that she and Pavel have long been estranged, and Pavel has a new lover of his own.
Reception
The Joke was released in 1969, some months after the August 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia had put an end to the freedoms of the Prague Spring. Though a success in theaters, authorities banned it for the next twenty years, making it "one of the New Wave’s most renowned casualties".
The film was released on DVD in 2012 by the Criterion Collection's Eclipse line. Criterion essayist Michael Koresky described the film as regarded as "the definitive take on the Stalinist era in Czechoslovakia". Cineaste stated that The Joke was "a modest, quiet film" that was "permeated with irony", though its ironic juxtapositions were occasionally heavy-handed, such as cutting between a group singing the revolutionary song "No More Masters" and Jahn and other prisoners breaking rocks in a quarry.
References
- ^ Leonard Quart. "The Joke". Cineaste. Fall 2003: 60–1.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Michael Koresky. "Eclipse Series 32: Pearls of the Czech New Wave". The Criterion Collection. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.