Directed by:
Jan NěmecCinematography:
Jaromír ŠofrComposer:
Karel MarešCast:
Helena Pejšková, Jana Prachařová, Zdena Salivarová-Škvorecká, Pavel Bošek, Karel Mareš, Evald Schorm, Jan Klusák, Jiří Němec, Ivan Vyskočil, Dana Němcová (more)Plots(1)
A group of friends enjoying an idyllic day in the country are accosted by mysterious figures who compel them to join an unexplained lavish banquet in the woods. A barbed satire of authoritarianism and conformity unfolds, as each new guest finds their place amongst the revellers, succumbing to the will of their menacing hosts. (Second Run)
(more)Reviews (4)
An intellectual plaything on the technology of power and manipulation of the individual, which became a cult classic thanks to the Soviet invasion two years later. The film's story about a banquet and uninvited guests perfectly captured the gloomy mood of that time. Interesting dialogues and an Orwellian-Kafkaesque atmosphere. A powerful final scene where the search for a stray guest, who clearly does not want company, turns into a ruthless hunt for a renegade. Overall impression: 95%. The film is worth watching if only for its atypical cast.
()
A shining example of why I don't really like allegories. Not that they have nothing to say, but they do it so stubbornly that I feel embarrassed for them. Although the political climate has changed over the past half-century, a viewer who knows what they're getting into can easily imagine all the festivities, moods, tricks, the flaring up and dying down. It is precisely because of this incessant dense spasmodic semi-pathos that I cannot properly laugh or be shocked by Vít Klusák's remarkable post mortem. It must be said, however, that he himself is a soldier in the field, and the picnickers in particular, whether intentionally or not, are simply dreadful with their amateurish recitation. With this it is with pleasure that I am definitively done with Jan Němec.
()
The Party and the Guests is a very unconventional film that is certainly not lost in the field of parables in 1960’s Czechoslovak cinema. The constant presence of a kind of absurdity and the endless asking of the question Why? How? Where? When?, to which perhaps there is no clear answer – this film plays with the viewer and leaves them free for interpretation. All in all, a noteworthy piece of filmmaking, which, although it didn't impress me as much as other users, I can still recommend.
()
I've never been much for this cannibalistic parable, but I do have a giant soft spot for the new-wave obliteration of archetypes of a Czech character using non-actors. The strange unnatural feeling of watching it can be compared to the feeling of watching scary horror movies. After all, how many points of contact can the film The Party and the Guests have with the cannibalistic feast in Texas Chainsaw Massacre? The statuette for the most charming bimbo of the Czechoslovak New Wave goes to Helena Pejšková. She takes over from Hana Brejchová.
()