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A welcome and long overdue release for one of the greatest masterpieces of the Czech New Wave. Jan Nemec's viciously sly allegory of totalitarianism is squarely in the tradition of Kafka and Buñuel as seven bourgeois picnickers find themselves rounded up and interrogated about obscure technicalities before becoming honoured guests of a dapper, deceptively genial man who seems devoted to nothing more than ensuring that his lavish birthday celebrations come off without a hitch. Setting all this entirely in the open air, Nemec creates a bucolic atmosphere that initially recalls Renoir. Look more closely, though, and it becomes clear that the dialogue is riddled with banal cliché, and that his characters only care about superficial surface detail. This makes it that much easier for them to abandon their principles, assuming they had any to begin with. Tellingly, the only truly honourable figure barely utters a word - after all, what's the point, when no-one's listening? Second Run's DVD includes a video introduction by Czech cinema expert Peter Hames, and the usual extensive booklet essay.

 

Michael Brooke on 1st February 2007
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