Calamity
 

PostED ON 14.10.2024

In the early 1980s, a young man who believes his country of Czechoslovakia is on the brink of collapse, decides to give up his studies, pursue a career as a railwayman, and live his life with an open heart and mind.  

Calamity by Vera Chytilová (1980) © Vera Chytilová - Narodni filmovy archiv, Prague

Calamity is an ultra-dynamic, ill-mannered comedy by Vera Chytilová. With a fair dose of humour, the director hurls her hero, a kind of big guy (an Ilie Nastase lookalike), into all sorts of situations. Played by actor and young clown Bolek Polívka, the protagonist traverses the streets, carriages, restaurants and bedrooms, with nary a fear, as if sensing that freedom (the Berlin Wall is about to come down) is within his reach, giving way to a general air of relaxation, bordering on happiness. The directing also contains a certain elastic quality, with surprising twists and turns, such as a girl bounding around a restaurant to overly loud popular music. Chytilová also knows how to add a sense of poetry to her portrait of a young man. When a girl approaches him in bed and puts her hand on his heart, and he resists, she tells him in the most charming way that his heart isn't beating!

Virginie Apiou

Screenings:

Calamity by Vera Chytilová (1980, 1h41)
Institut Lumière (Villa) Mon 14 9:30pm | Institut Lumière (Villa) Mon 14 9:45pm |
Pathé Bellecour Wed 16 2pm