Title: The Fireman’s Ball
Year: 1967
Director: Milos Forman
Writers: Milos Forman, Jaroslav Papousek, Ivan Passer, Vaclav Sasek
Stars: Jan Vostrcil, Josef Sebanek, Josef Valnoha, Josef Kolb, Jan Stokl, Stanislav Holubec

The Story: The petty and venal old men of a small-town fire department hold a retirement ball for a dying comrade, then use the opportunity to round up all the pretty girls in town for an impromptu beauty contest. A circus of bumbling, thievery and corruption turns the event into an ever-escalating farce.

Why It’s Great: You might think that nothing could be more unpleasant than a visit to an official gathering in a backward town in a dark time, but the movie is actually a lot of fun. Forman has that magical ability, shared with a few other great ’60s European directors, to invest unhappy situations with a sweetly buoyant charm. They remind us that such situations are rooted in all-too-human folly, and folly is always fun to watch. Throughout their history, the Czech people had never been free for very long. How do you develop an artistic tradition when you’re not free to say what you feel? You stick your tongue firmly in your cheek. Satire and allegory have always been their stock in trade, even when flourishing under the relative freedom of the “Prague Spring”, as they were in 1967. It’s ironic that this bitterly funny protest was made during that brief window of happiness, but Forman knew enough not to get too happy too quickly. The tanks were already on their way…

Two more reasons at Cockeyed Caravan…