Johndav
(1/10/06 4:08 pm)

Welcome. It's great to have some new input here, especially as it's quieter than it used to be. We had a recent brief discussion somewhere on the boards about Eastern European films we like. I've long wanted to see Diamonds of the Night- and a few others you mention i've not seen. I enjoyed the very playful anarchic Daisies (cutting men down to size, literally by unusual compositions). A Blonde in Love and Closely Observed Trains are fine. I've ordered forthcoming dvd of Passer's Intimate Lighting. Svankmajer is an interesting director of animations (or part-live, part-animated films): Alice, Dimensions of Dialogue, Little Otik, Conspirators of Pleasure... Trnka is another admired animator, e.g the satirical The Hand (i've not seen), The Emperor and the Nightingale. There's a strong strain of quirky surrealism in Czech/Slovak cinema, e.g Valerie and her Week of Wonders (Jires).

One Czech novel i really liked is Cutting it Short/ The little Town where Time Stood Still (Hrabal), again with that seemingly characteristic mix of eccentricity, humour, darkness and whimsicality.