Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Joseph Kilian (1965)

Joseph Kilian • Postava k podpírání (1965)
Joseph Kilian • Postava k podpírání (1965)

Czech New Wave
Genre: Short / Drama
Director: Pavel Jurácek, Jan Schmidt
Starring: Pavel Bartl, Pavel Silhánek, Stanislav Michler
Language: Czech
Duration: 38 min.
Rating: 8.2  

Summary:
An absurd Kafkaesque view of life under the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. 

Joseph Kilian • Postava k podpírání (1965)


Joseph Kilian aka A Character in Need of Support, is a short film from the Czechoslovak New Wave directed by Pavel Jurácek and Jan Schmidt. 

It's a sombre Kafkaesque tale about a nameless man who happens upon a cat rental agency while wandering the streets of Prague searching for someone named Joseph Kilian.  Of course the next day when he goes to return his rented feline, he finds the shop is no longer where it was and none of the passers by can provide any help; and so he encounters an increasingly complex and impossible bureaucracy in his search for this missing shop and the elusive Joseph Kilian.

With a beautiful minimalistic style, Jurácek and Schmidt create a concise and absurdly humorous, biting allegory of life under the communist regime.  Hilarious scenes of the main character hopelessly lost in a confusing and meandering system of officials and departments provide much amusement, and makes you truly wonder how a film with such a politically critical message was allowed to be made under those conditions. 

A wonderfully clever, surreal, and gloomy yet enjoyable tale, perfect for cat lovers and fans of Eastern European cinema.

Bonjour Tristesse

Joseph Kilian • Postava k podpírání (1965)

Joseph Kilian • Postava k podpírání (1965)

Joseph Kilian • Postava k podpírání (1965)

Joseph Kilian • Postava k podpírání (1965)

Joseph Kilian • Postava k podpírání (1965)

Joseph Kilian • Postava k podpírání (1965)

Joseph Kilian • Postava k podpírání (1965)

Joseph Kilian • Postava k podpírání (1965)

3 comments:

Michael Parent said...

Looks like a Czech adaptation of Kafka's The Trial. Interesting! I will look at the film on Youtube!

Bonjour Tristesse said...

It's on YouTube with English subtitles.

d_4 said...

Well it's a short. It wouldn't hurt to give it a look. Now, to see if I can find it..

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