View source for Czechoslovak New Wave

{{Short description|Filmmaking movement in 1960s Czechoslovakia}}{{Expand Czech}}{{Infobox Film Movement
| name           = Czechoslovak New Wave
| image          = Firemen's Ball - Hoří, má panenko 1967.jpg
| image_size     = 
| caption        = Polish poster of ''[[The Firemen's Ball|Firemen's Ball]]'' by [[Miloš Forman]]
| yearsactive    = 1960s
| country        = [[Czechoslovakia]]
| majorfigures   = [[Miloš Forman]], [[Jiří Menzel]], [[Věra Chytilová]], [[Ivan Passer]], [[Jan Němec]], [[Jaromil Jireš]]
| influences     = [[Devětsil]], political liberalization of Czechoslovakia leading up to the [[Prague Spring]]
| influenced     = 
}}

The '''Czechoslovak New Wave'''{{Efn|{{langx|cs|Československá nová vlna}}; {{langx|sk|Československá nová vlna}}|group=lower-greek}} (also '''Czech/Slovak New Wave'''{{Efn|{{langx|cs|České nová vlna}}; {{langx|sk|Slovenská nová vlna}}|group=lower-greek}}) is a term used for the Czechoslovak filmmakers who started making films in the 1960s. The directors commonly included are [[Miloš Forman]], [[Věra Chytilová]], [[Jan Švankmajer]], [[Ivan Passer]], [[Pavel Juráček]], [[Jiří Menzel]], [[Jan Němec]], [[Jaromil Jireš]], [[Evald Schorm]], [[Hynek Bočan]], [[Juraj Herz]], [[Juraj Jakubisko]], [[Štefan Uher]], [[František Vláčil]] and others. The movement was sometimes called the "Czechoslovak film miracle".

== Overview ==
The films touched on themes which earlier filmmakers in [[communism|communist]] countries had rarely managed to depict while avoiding the objections of censors, such as the misguided youths of Czechoslovak society portrayed in [[Miloš Forman]]'s ''[[Black Peter (film)|Black Peter]]'' (1963) and ''[[Loves of a Blonde]]'' (1965), or those caught in a surrealistic whirlwind in [[Věra Chytilová]]'s ''[[Daisies (film)|Daisies]]'' (1966) and [[Jaromil Jireš]]' ''[[Valerie a týden divů|Valerie and Her Week of Wonders]]'' (1970). The films often expressed dark and absurd humour in opposition to the [[Socialist realism|socialist realist]] films of the 1950s.

The Czechoslovak New Wave differed from the [[French New Wave]] in that it usually held stronger narratives, and as these directors were part of a nationalized film industry, they had greater access to studios and state funding. They also made more adaptations, including [[Jaromil Jireš]]'s [[The Joke (film)|adaptation]] of [[Milan Kundera]]'s novel ''[[The Joke (novel)|The Joke]]'' (1969). At the Fourth Congress of the Czechoslovak Writers Union {{ill|Svaz československých spisovatelů|cs}} in 1967, [[Milan Kundera]] described this wave of national cinema as an important part of the history of [[Czech literature|Czechoslovak literature]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cook |first=David |title=A History of Narrative Film |year=1996 |isbn=9780393920093 |page=706}}</ref> Forman's ''[[The Firemen's Ball]]'' (1967), another major film of the era, remains a [[cult film]] more than four decades after its release.

== Czech film ==
The majority of films shot during the New Wave were Czech-language as opposed to [[Slovak language|Slovak]]. Many directors came from the prestigious [[Film and TV School of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague|FAMU]], located in Prague, while the state-run [[Barrandov Studios]] were located just on the outskirts of Prague. Some prominent Czech directors included [[Miloš Forman]], who directed ''[[The Firemen's Ball]]'', ''[[Black Peter (film)|Black Peter]]'', and ''[[Loves of a Blonde]]'' during this time, [[Věra Chytilová]] who is best known for her film ''[[Daisies (film)|Daisies]]'',<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Brody |first=Richard |date=2 December 2013 |title=DVD of the Week: "Daisies" |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/dvd-of-the-week-daisies |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref> and [[Jiří Menzel]], whose film ''[[Closely Watched Trains]]'' (''Ostře sledované vlaky'' 1966) won an [[Academy Award]] for Best Foreign Language Film in 1968.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6gyakVlsyc |title="Closely Watched Trains" Wins Foreign Language Film: 1968 Oscars |date=2014-03-06 |last=Oscars |access-date=2025-10-11 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-10-04 |title=The 40th Academy Awards {{!}} 1968 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1968 |access-date=2025-10-11 |website=www.oscars.org |language=en}}</ref>

== Slovak film ==
''[[The Shop on Main Street]]'' (1965) won the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]] in 1966,<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A02DWktid5M |title="The Shop on Main Street" Wins Foreign Language Film: 1966 Oscars |date=2013-08-26 |last=Oscars |access-date=2025-10-11 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-10-04 |title=The 38th Academy Awards {{!}} 1966 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1966 |access-date=2025-10-11 |website=www.oscars.org |language=en}}</ref> although it is not considered part of the New Wave, because it was directed by [[Ján Kadár]] and [[Elmar Klos]], who were a generation older, and the film is fairly traditional. [[Juraj Herz]], [[Juraj Jakubisko]], [[Štefan Uher]] and [[Dušan Hanák]] were Slovak filmmakers who were part of the New Wave.

== Key works ==
* ''[[The Devil's Trap]]'' by [[František Vláčil]] (1962)<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.csfd.cz/film/9333-dablova-past/prehled/ |title=Ďáblova past (1961) {{!}} ČSFD.cz |language=cs-CZ |access-date=2024-11-02 |via=www.csfd.cz}}</ref>
* ''[[The Sun in a Net]]'' by [[Štefan Uher]] (1963)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pogue |first=Jasmine |date=2005 |title=Štefan Uher: The Sun in a Net (Slnko v sieti) 1963 |url=https://www.kinokultura.com/specials/3/slnko-pog.shtml |access-date=2025-10-11 |website=www.kinokultura.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pogue |first=Jasmine |date=2005 |title=Štefan Uher: The Sun in a Net (Slnko v sieti), 1963 |url=https://www.kinokultura.com/specials/3/slnko-gol.shtml |access-date=2025-10-11 |website=www.kinokultura.com}}</ref>
* ''[[Something Different (1963 film)|Something Different]]'' by [[Věra Chytilová]] (1963)
* ''[[Black Peter (film)|Black Peter]]'' by [[Miloš Forman]] (1963)
* ''[[The Cassandra Cat]]'' by [[Vojtěch Jasný]] (1963)<ref name="dec2023lineup">{{Cite web |title=The Criterion Channel’s December 2023 Lineup |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8309-the-criterion-channel-s-december-2023-lineup |access-date=2025-10-11 |website=The Criterion Collection |language=en}}</ref>
* ''[[The Cry (1964 film)|The Cry]]'' by [[Jaromil Jireš]] (1964)
* ''[[Lemonade Joe|Lemonade Joe, or The Horse Opera]]'' by [[Oldřich Lipský]] (1964)
* ''[[Diamonds of the Night]]'' by [[Jan Němec]] (1964)
* ''[[The Last Trick]]'' by [[Jan Švankmajer]] (1964)
* ''[[Loves of a Blonde]]'' by [[Miloš Forman]] (1965)
* ''[[Intimate Lighting]]'' by [[Ivan Passer]] (1965)
* ''[[The Shop On Main Street]]'' by [[Ján Kadár]] & [[Elmar Klos]] (1965)
* ''[[Pearls of the Deep]]'' by [[Jiří Menzel]], [[Jan Němec]], [[Evald Schorm]], [[Věra Chytilová]], [[Jaromil Jireš]] (1966)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/870-eclipse-series-32-pearls-of-the-czech-new-wave | title=Eclipse Series 32: Pearls of the Czech New Wave | website=The Criterion Collection}}</ref>
* ''[[Closely Watched Trains]]'' by [[Jiří Menzel]] (1966)
* ''[[Daisies (film)|Daisies]]'' by [[Věra Chytilová]] (1966)
* ''[[A Report on the Party and the Guests]]'' by [[Jan Němec]] (1966)
* ''[[Marketa Lazarová]]'' by [[František Vláčil]] (1967)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marketa Lazarová |url=https://www.kfilmu.net/film/marketa-lazarova/ |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=kfilmu.net |language=cs}}</ref>
* ''[[The Firemen's Ball]]'' by [[Miloš Forman]] (1967)
* ''[[The Return of the Prodigal Son (1966 film)|The Return of the Prodigal Son]]'' by [[Evald Schorm]] (1967)
* ''[[The Valley of the Bees|The Valley Of The Bees]]'' by [[František Vláčil]] (1968)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Peripetie Údolí včel: Tlustý Kačer, šeredný Čepek a zpitý svéráz Vláčil mezi nevybuchlými minami... - AHA.cz |url=https://www.ahaonline.cz/clanek/zhave-drby/103888/peripetie-udoli-vcel-tlusty-kacer-seredny-cepek-a-zpity-sveraz-vlacil-mezi-nevybuchlymi-minami.html |access-date=2024-11-02 |website=Ahaonline.cz}}</ref>
* ''[[The Joke (film)|The Joke]]'' by [[Jaromil Jireš]] (1968)
* ''[[Capricious Summer]]'' by [[Jiří Menzel]] (1968)
* ''[[The Flat (1968 film)|The Flat]]'' by [[Jan Švankmajer]] (1968)
* ''[[The Cremator]]'' by [[Juraj Herz]] (1969)
* ''[[Larks on a String]]'' by [[Jiří Menzel]] (1969)
* ''[[Birds, Orphans and Fools]]'' by [[Juraj Jakubisko]] (1969)
* ''[[Case for a Rookie Hangman]]'' by [[Pavel Juráček]] (1970)
* ''[[Valerie a týden divů|Valerie and Her Week of Wonders]]'' by [[Jaromil Jireš]] (1970)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tasteofcinema.com/2014/10-essential-films-from-the-czech-new-wave/ | title=10 Essential Films From The Czech New Wave | website=Taste of Cinema| date=27 June 2014 }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Barrandov Studios]]
* [[Cinema of the Czech Republic]]
* [[Cinema of Slovakia]]
* [[List of Czech films]]
* [[List of Slovak films]]
* ''[[Czechoslovakia 1968]]'' - Oscar-winning 1968 American documentary short about Prague Spring
* ''[[The Unbearable Lightness of Being (film)|The Unbearable Lightness of Being]]'' - 1988 [[Philip Kaufman]] film adaptation of the [[Milan Kundera]] novel about Prague Spring.

== Notes ==
<references group="lower-greek" />

== References ==
{{Reflist|1}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book | author=Hames, Peter | title=The Czechoslovak New Wave | publisher=Wallflower Press | date=1985 | isbn=978-1904764427}}
* {{cite book | author=Škvorecký, Josef | title=All The Bright Young Man and Women: A Personal History of the Czech Cinema | publisher=Peter Martin Assoc | date=1971 | isbn=9780887781100}}
* {{cite book | author=Owen, Jonathan | title=Avant-garde to New Wave: Czechoslovak Cinema, Surrealism and the Sixties | publisher=Berghahn | date=2011 | isbn=978-0857459015}}

==External links==
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160523022539/http://www.ce-review.org/01/3/kinoeye3_hames.html Slovak Cinema Strikes Back]}} by Peter Hames, ''January 22, 2001''
* [https://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/dec/03/3 Prague spring: Russian tanks in the streets and a new wave in the cinema] The Guardian, ''2 Dec 1999''
* [https://www.newwavefilm.com/international/czech-new-wave.shtml Czechoslovak New Wave] Simon Hitchman, ''2015''
* [https://vimeo.com/432911647 Criterion Collection video on this particular cinematic New Wave]
* [https://www.criterionchannel.com/czechoslovak-new-wave Criterion Channel section featuring Czech New Wave films]

{{Czechoslovak New Wave |state=expanded}}
{{New Wave in cinema |state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cinema of the Czech Republic|New Wave]]
[[Category:Cinema of Slovakia|New Wave]]
[[Category:Movements in cinema]]
[[Category:New Wave in cinema]]
[[Category:1960s in film]]