The Firemen’s Ball
Directed by Milos Forman
Written by Milos Forman, Jaroslav Papousek and Ivan Passer; story by Vaclav Sasek
1967/Czechoslovakia
Carlo Ponti Cinematografica/Filmove Studio Barrandov
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Di
[box]Firefighters don’t go on strike. – Dennis Leary[/box]
Everything goes to hell this hilarious political satire/farce.
Small-town firemen decide to hold a grand bash in honor of their former Commander’s 86th birthday. (They should have done it when he turned 85 but forgot.) Among the festivities are to be a raffle, a beauty contest, dancing, and as the big finale the presentation of a ceremonial hatchet to the old man.
Every single thing that can go wrong does go wrong and in hilarious fashion. Lottery prizes start to go missing, the local talent mostly have faces only a mother could love and know it, and the celebration is interrupted by an actual fire.
I saw this years ago and had forgotten just how funny it was. The gags just keep coming in rapid-fire succession. Forman utilizes his cast of hundreds like a master. Highly recommended.
Milos Forman fled for the USA during the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and the rest is history!
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I usually have mixed feeling about Eastern European films, but not Czech Cinema! I saw Marketa Lazarova, Daisies and The Firemen’s Ball within a few months of each other, and included with The Shop Around the Corner and Closely Watched Trains (which I’d seen a few years earlier), I find the Czechs to be among my favorite filmmakers in Europe!
I love their wry sense of humor. Marketa Lazarova may be a bridge too far. But I’m up to try again before I finish 1967.
I loved this one. The beauty contest is so ridiculously funny that that alone could have carried the movie. Yet, the gems are all those small things Forman packs in to the movie that makes it stand out.
It’s almost like watching Tati in that there are so many gags it’s hard to even catch them all. I thought this was even funnier on a second viewing.