On H List of Movie Reviews
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Hoří, má panenko (1967)
Rate:
3
Viewed:
8/25
8/25:
What caught my interest while scanning the DVD cover of Hoří, má panenko (literal translation is
Fire, My Lady, but it's commonly referred to as The Firemen's Ball) was Miloš Forman's name.
I thought it would be interesting to see something of his from overseas before making his mark in
One Flew's Over the Cuckoo's Nest and
Amadeus. After watching the film for thirty minutes or so, I concluded I had
to be a Czech to understand the inside jokes given that there were strong ties with what it was like living
in a Communist country.
The movie per se isn't boring, but it's neither conventional nor universal. I'm rather impressed with the
technical aspects. It's well-made in many ways, that's for sure. I love the photography by Miroslav Ondrícek
which is very rich and sharply defined in terms of colors. He would shoot the aforementioned films plus others
for Miloš Forman.
Another name that got my eye is Ivan Passer. It turns out that he worked on all Czech films with Miloš Forman
by co-writing the screenplay for each. They both left for the United States after the Warsaw Pact invasion in
1968. More than a decade later, Ivan Passer ended up making one of the most interesting movies ever:
Cutter's Way with Jeff Bridges and John Heard.
All in all, Hoří, má panenko may have been at once funny and controversial back in the day, but today,
its effect has pretty much run out.