SEPTEMBER 12 - CZECH CINEMA - 7:00 pm
THE EAR
Karel Kachyna (1970) 94 mins
The relationship between a government minister and his dissatisfied wife is severely tested when the former suspects that authorities have planted a bug in their home. Detailing one emotionally harrowing evening in the life of the couple, Kachyna's daring & remarkably pared down, second-to-last collaboration with prolific scriptwriter Jan Procházka was suppressed for 20 years for overtly addressing the purges of liberal-leaning politicians under the dawning Husák political regime. Imported 35mm print.
Screens as part of the Czech Cinema Retrospective
SEPTEMBER 12 - CZECH CINEMA - 8:45 pm
THE CREMATOR
Juraj Herz (1968) 87 mins
A quietly deranged & increasingly violent individual, chillingly portrayed by Rudolf Hrusinsky, Karl Kopfrkingl is a professional cremator at a Prague crematorium in the early days of the Nazi occupation. The fact that production of the film was halted during the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968 further charges its already potent political undertones with an added horror that has nothing to do with its extraordinary gothic aesthetic. Imported 35mm print.