239 - The Fireman's Ball, 1967, Czechoslovakia. Dir. Milos Forman.

Sunday, August 27, 2017

239 - The Fireman's Ball, 1967, Czechoslovakia.  Dir. Milos Forman.

Welcome to the Fireman's Ball.

A retirement party for the former chief.

Unfortunately, things do not always go as planned.

Like Loves of a Blonde, The Fireman's Ball is a slice of life with comical observances of human foibles.

It is also a subtle attack on the Communist regime.

It was the first film Forman made in color.

It was the last film Forman made in Czechoslovakia.

A committee holds a meeting.  A member ends up hanging from the rafters.  The banner ends up burning away in flames.

The raffle prizes mysteriously disappear from the table.

The firemen decide to host a beauty pageant.  The elected queen will present the trophy to the chief at the ball.  The women do not want to do it.  Especially the pretty ones.  The men do their best to recruit them.  The women lock themselves in the bathroom.

During the ball a barn catches on fire and the firemen race to put it out.

It is Winter.  There is snow on the ground.  The trucks get stuck in the snow.

When they arrive the farmer is watching.  He is cold.  They move him closer to the fire to keep him warm.

Citizens give the man their raffle tickets to help compensate for his losses.  But all of the prizes are now gone.

Everything is a disaster.

The authorities thought Forman was making fun of them.  They withdrew their support of the film.

With the help of Francois Truffaut, it received international distribution anyway.

It helped Forman move to America where he has had a successful career.