Cinema
Intimate Lighting
Intimní osvětlení
Ivan Passer · 1965
Synopsis
Over a summer weekend, Petr, an orchestra cellist in Prague, returns with his young girlfriend Štěpa to the small town of his childhood, to play as a soloist at the concert being prepared by his old friend Bambas, a music teacher who also plays at funerals. Bambas's whole family lives under one roof; between rehearsals, meals and conversations, the two friends, each apparently content with his life, begin to envy what the other has.
Context
The only feature film its author made in his own country, the film was written with Jaroslav Papoušek and Václav Šašek, photographed by Josef Střecha and Miroslav Ondříček, and acted mostly by non-professionals, around Karel Blažek and Zdeněk Bezušek; the singer Věra Křesadlová and Jan Vostrčil, a regular in Forman's films, play the other roles. It was released on 8 April 1965.
Who it is for
Seventy-one minutes, with no real plot: the comedy arises from the small gestures of a day with the family.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as one of the major works of the Czechoslovak New Wave and as its author's most important film.