Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Fugue on the Black Keys (1965)

Fugue on the Black Keys • Fuga na cerných klávesách (1965)
Fugue on the Black Keys • Fuga na cerných klávesách (1965)
Czech New Wave
Genre: Drama, Short
Director: Drahomíra Vihanová
Starring: Julian Diaz, George Stivín, Franz Rauch
Language: Czech, English
Duration: 34 min.
Rating: 7.3
Summary:
A portrait of an African music student studying the piano in Prague, as he prepares for his debut concert recital.
Fugue on the Black Keys • Fuga na cerných klávesách (1965)
Fugue on the Black Keys is a short student film by Drahomíra Vihanová, a graduate of the famed FAMU film academy. It was screened at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival.

It's an inventive and atmospheric piece that follows young African student Fati Farari (Julian Diaz), nearing the end of his piano studies at Prague's Music Academy. Shot with a candid documentary style on location in the streets of Prague, and featuring a running internal dialog of the main character as he encounters various people in his preparations for his graduation recital.

This film is interesting for several reasons: the casting of a visible minority in the main role (it's rare enough to see even a single non-white extra in the films of this era), and its delicate handling of the overt racism he experiences on a daily basis; some skillful editing and imaginative first person point of view scenes where we hear Farari's internal thoughts in both English and Czech; and some lively on-location camerawork reminiscent of the early French New Wave, providing us with a wonderful and spontaneous look at Prague in the early 1960s.

A minor figure of the Czech New Wave, Vihanová went on to direct just one other film during this period, the 1969 feature Squandered Sunday (Zabitá nedele), which earned her a ban from filmmaking by the Communist government; and though she was able to direct a handful of short documentaries before the Velvet Revolution, she wasn't able to make another feature until 1994.
Bonjour Tristesse
Fugue on the Black Keys • Fuga na cerných klávesách (1965)

Fugue on the Black Keys • Fuga na cerných klávesách (1965)

Fugue on the Black Keys • Fuga na cerných klávesách (1965)

Fugue on the Black Keys • Fuga na cerných klávesách (1965)

Fugue on the Black Keys • Fuga na cerných klávesách (1965)

Fugue on the Black Keys • Fuga na cerných klávesách (1965)

Fugue on the Black Keys • Fuga na cerných klávesách (1965)

Fugue on the Black Keys • Fuga na cerných klávesách (1965)

3 comments:

Zornitsa Tashkova said...

Hey,

There is an amazing movie competition on Lomography.com. Check it out!
http://www.lomography.com/magazine/competitions/2012/05/04/show-us-your-mad-lomokino-editing-skills-competition

d_4 said...

I'd watch it considering its length. If it were half an hour longer I'd probably be more hesitant. Sounds decent, just not very full. You know?

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Totally, it lacks a real story and it's highly experimental in nature so I don't think it would really work as a full length, but it sure makes for an interesting short.

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