i reallllly enjoy a film with a cool set-up like this, like taking place all in one night in one location. there are very occasional flashbacks to the absolutely insane communist party get-together earlier in the night, but they stick to the bit incredibly well! also how horrible was that child that they literally needed a cage at the end of the stairs that they lock every night to keep him in 😭

i reallllly enjoy a film with a cool set-up like this, like taking place all in one night in one location. there are very occasional flashbacks to the absolutely insane communist party get-together earlier in the night, but they stick to the bit incredibly well! also how horrible was that child that they literally needed a cage at the end of the stairs that they lock every night to keep him in 😭

A fantastic study of paranoia and the effects of fear and surveillance in an increasingly unstable society. This Czechoslovakian film was shot after optimism of the Prague Spring (a brief period of political liberalisation and mass protest) had been crushed, and the bleakness of communist Czechoslovakia was ever present. This film follows the paranoid descent of a political official and his wife as they find out they are being surveilled by the government, their fears grow and their marriage deteriorates rapidly. This choice of a couple rather than a sole person experiencing political paranoia in an Orwellian context was really interesting, it very much highlights the sheer impact of totalitarianism on the personal lives of those living in it. The editing and stylistic choices within this film were absolutely terrific, there were many memory-like flashbacks which really seamlessly blended into the paranoid mind of the characters, also the first person perspective of the camera within these scenes was really great; it added so much depth into the story and gave the film a bit more of a Czech new-wave vibe. This was a tremendous piece of political cinema, Eastern Europe does it best.

A fantastic study of paranoia and the effects of fear and surveillance in an increasingly unstable society. This Czechoslovakian film was shot after optimism of the Prague Spring (a brief period of political liberalisation and mass protest) had been crushed, and the bleakness of communist Czechoslovakia was ever present. This film follows the paranoid descent of a political official and his wife as they find out they are being surveilled by the government, their fears grow and their marriage deteriorates rapidly. This choice of a couple rather than a sole person experiencing political paranoia in an Orwellian context was really interesting, it very much highlights the sheer impact of totalitarianism on the personal lives of those living in it. The editing and stylistic choices within this film were absolutely terrific, there were many memory-like flashbacks which really seamlessly blended into the paranoid mind of the characters, also the first person perspective of the camera within these scenes was really great; it added so much depth into the story and gave the film a bit more of a Czech new-wave vibe. This was a tremendous piece of political cinema, Eastern Europe does it best.

jak ten kluk zvládl celou dobu spát, mě velmi udivuje

jak ten kluk zvládl celou dobu spát, mě velmi udivuje

Místo tajné policie by se měli Ludva s Annou bát spíš OSPODu

Místo tajné policie by se měli Ludva s Annou bát spíš OSPODu

Hard to watch! A lot of bellyaching about the purges misses the mark but this truly plays like a slasher, where the monster could be hiding in any room…

Hard to watch! A lot of bellyaching about the purges misses the mark but this truly plays like a slasher, where the monster could be hiding in any room…