The Czech New Wave: Bold and Avant-Garde Self-Expression

In the 1960s, the film industry around the world saw a succession of new waves. In France, the French New Wave, represented by directors such as Godard, Truffaut, and Rohmer, first created refreshing works. Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States were not far behind, and at that time, Czechoslovakia was the most distinctive country in the new wave movement.

The Czech New Wave began in 1962. At that time, the Czechoslovakian film industry had long been nationalized, and all films had to be produced under the guidance of the government. In this politically oriented creative environment, many outstanding filmmakers graduated from the Prague Film School and began to stand out, becoming the main force of the Czech New Wave. So much so, that when you search for representative directors of the Czech New Wave, there is a high probability that they are alumni of this school.

Famous works that emerged in the Czech New Wave include "Daisies," "The Firemen's Ball," "My Sweet Little Village," and "The Joke," among others. They vary in subject matter and themes but all display a strong personal style, with each director having their own unique understanding and expression of creation.

The biggest characteristic of the Czech New Wave was that the impetus for a new generation of filmmakers to create trendy, free, and self-expressive films was the lack of freedom in the creative environment at the time. Therefore, rebellion and nonconformity are a major feature of Czech New Wave films. The famous Czech director and Oscar winner Miloš Forman once said in an interview that when they were filming "The Firemen's Ball," they would often feign compliance while secretly doing otherwise, writing ordinary scripts to pass the review and then filming the real content.

Due to the radical and avant-garde nature of many films by New Wave directors, several works were banned, such as "Daisies," which was destructively absurd and rebellious, and embodied feminism and audio-visual language forms, and was banned by the government at the time for being obscure and for wasting food, among other reasons. There was also Jiří Menzel, a director who had a close relationship with the famous Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal, whose film "Lost Wings" was banned for 21 years and was not released until 1990. In 1968, with significant political changes in Czechoslovakia, the creative freedom of these directors was affected again, with some leaving their homeland and others staying in the country but ceasing to create. Miloš Forman left for the United States and directed classic works such as "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus."

Compared to France and the United Kingdom, Czechoslovakia was a small country, yet it created film achievements that were no less than those of the French New Wave under such a severe creative environment. Such rich creativity broke the dogmatic artistic standards of the time and left a significant mark in the history of cinema with its bold and avant-garde self-expression.

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