Report of our lecture 'A Fresh Look at the Czech New Wave'

The talk was subtitled: "and some of the most beautiful films in modern cinema history" and was given by Mark le Fanu on Tuesday 5th December 2023. The event filled the theatre in the Czech Embassy, London, with both an enthusiastic lecturer and audience.

The film school of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, founded in 1946, produced a remarkable generation of directors between 1962 and 1970. Their films became known as the Czech New Wave. Mark Le Fanu of University College, London gave a lively and enthusiastic description of much of their work. Introduced by our Chairman Peter Jamieson, he proceeded to remind us of the astonishing and radical approach to film-making that had flowered during the period that led up to the Prague Spring of 1968. He described how students at the film school had been allowed to see work by the avant garde in Europe, with ‘Last Year in Marienbad’ by Alain Resnais and work by Michaelangelo Antonioni making particular impacts. A reaction to Socialist Realism and a deliberate avoidance of Communist directives were main drivers.

Using stronger narratives than the French Nouvelle Vague but adopting many of their low-budget techniques and stylistic attitudes, the work was often coloured by dark and surrealist humour. Mark Le Fanu delighted in describing several imaginatively erotic sequences included in their films.

Many of the alumni became internationally known: Miloš Foreman with ‘The Fireman’s Ball’ and ‘A Blonde in Love’, Vera Chytilova and ‘ Daisies’, Jiří Menzel with ‘Closely Observed Trains’ to mention notable examples. The importance of the remarkable Academy Cinema in Oxford Street (which closed in 1980) in introducing the work of the Czech New Wave to British audiences was happily alluded to.

During questions at the end of this very timely and stimulating talk Maxine Webster asked about Czech animated films made at the same time. Mark Le Fanu rightly said that this fascinating topic would need a lecture all of its own.
Peter Avery December 2023

The lecturer has provided a list of recommended films, available to download here (278KB PDF).

Mark Le Fanu is a London-based film historian who has written books on Tarkovsky, on Mizoguchi and on the contribution made to European cinema by the depleted tradition of Christianity ('Believing in Film', Bloomsbury, 2019). Essays by him on individual classic films can be found on criterion.

Image: on the left our lecturer, seen with our Chairman Peter Jamieson. © J. Sommerlad