The German title of the film is “Anuschka – es brennt, mein Schatz”

The Firemen’s Ball

I don’t think I have heard of a more stupid German title, really. Just the title shows how hard it really is to understand the very eastern european humor of the film. But then again, Roger Ebert and the likes love the film, and that is impressive considering the subtleness of its humor. I mean, hey, it’s a socialist comedy, and I really don’t think that this humor is universal. It’s too ironic, too strange, yet for some reason it must resonate with the film critics. Now here’s the truth: I did not actually laugh. It’s all beautifully absurd and funny, but it’s not the kind of film that I can laugh at. (Though the desire to laugh grows stronger the more the film progresses – by the end, I almost laughed.)

As for myself, I am most impressed by the fact that these people are not actors. I mean, even playing yourself is not usually something just anybody can do. I also like that the film was indeed shelved for a year because of its ‘bad’ jokes.

Even though I knew Milos Forman for quite awhile, of course, having seen “Amadeus” several times and “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest” a long time ago, I have never heard of his older films in Czechoslovakia. The first time somebody mentioned this film to me was when I was TA-ing last semester and one of my students recommended it to me. It was this Indian guy who called himself to be a film buff, said that “Slumdog Millionnaire” is bullshit and claimed this film to be his absolute favorite. I was quite impressed by that, and now that I have seen the film, it blows my mind why this seemingly mediocre engineering student would have a film like that as his favorite.

Now that I did, I have a hard time recommending it, because it’s such a hit or miss. I see what’s great about it, but I also feel that its lack of ‘suspense’ in any sense and extreme subtleness of its humor can be difficult to deal with. They call this “Czechoslovak New Wave”, described by Wikipedia as “unscripted dialogues, dark and absurd humor, and the casting of non-professional actors”. That is exactly it, and if you like this kind of stuff, “The Firemen’s Ball” certainly is one of its best examples. Dogma 95 feels like a lame copy of this concept.