Jan Nemec
Encyclopedia
Jan Němec is a Czech filmmaker whose most important work dates from the 1960s. Film historian Peter Hames has described him as the "enfant terrible of the Czech New Wave."
, the most prestigious institution for film training in Czechoslovakia
. At this time, Czechoslovakia was a communist state subservient to the USSR and artistic and public expression
was subject to censorship and government review. However, thanks largely to the failure of purely propagandist cinema in the early 1950s and the presence of important and powerful people within the Czechoslovak film industry, such as Jan Procházka, the 1960s led to an internationally acknowledged creative surge in Czechoslovak film that became known as the Czech New Wave, in which Němec played an instrumental part.
based on the author's experience of the Holocaust
: A Loaf of Bread (Sousta). Němec would return to Lustig's writing when he directed the influential film, Diamonds of the Night
(Démanty noci, 1964), which was also based on the Holocaust. The film follows the fate of two boys who escape from a transit train to a concentration camp. It is noted for its dramatic subjectivization of the experience of the Holocaust using experimental techniques, including flashbacks, simulated hallucinations and an unusual double ending that leaves the viewer in doubt as to the fate of its protagonists. It was his first major success, and while it passed the censors' reviews, it helped lay the foundation for the political movement that was coming. More importantly, it remains an aesthetic and technical milestone in the exploration of human experience under extreme conditions.
His best known work is A Report on the Party and the Guests
(O slavnosti a hostech, 1966). Its plot revolves around a group of friends on a picnic who are invited to a bizarre banquet by a charismatic sadist
, played by Ivan Vyskočil, who eventually bullies most of them into blind conformity and brutality while those who resist are hunted down. The film particularly received a bad reception from the authorities as Vyskočil in the film had a remarkable likeness to Lenin, though according to Peter Hames this was accidental. Moreover, the cast consisted of various dissident Czechoslovak intellectuals of the day, including Josef Škvorecký
. The film was viewed as being so subversive to the Communist state
that Antonín Novotný
, the President, was said to "climb the walls" on viewing it and Němec's arrest for subversion was considered.
However, before the political fallout from A Report on the Party and the Guests was able to take effect, he was able to have approved one more feature: Martyrs of Love (Mučedníci lásky, 1966). The film, perhaps in mind of the previous troubles he had suffered, was completely apolitical, but it's surrealist lyrical style did not endear it to the authorities and Němec was forced to work outside the government-approved system, producing the film Mother and Son (Mutter und Sohn, 1967), which won an award at the Oberhausen
Film Festival.
His next important feature was a documentary, Oratorio for Prague, of the Soviet-led invasion of Prague in 1968, which ended the liberal Prague Spring
. It was banned, but Němec's footage would eventually be used by countless international news organizations as stock footage of the invasion. Němec was also an advisor on Philip Kaufman's film adaption of The Unbearable Lightness of Being
(1988) with Němec's original film of the invasion being integrated.
After 1968, he left Czechoslovakia although he did return to the occupied country but was not allowed to make films so he waited and then after some fuss was eventually allowed to leave in 1974 with the warning that if he ever returned they would find an excuse to put him in prison so he was in effect thrown out. He then went on to Germany before eventually moving to the United States. Unable to work in traditional cinema, he was a pioneer in using video cameras to record weddings, including documenting the nuptials of the Swedish royal family.
After the fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989, he returned to his native country, where he has made several films, including Late Night Talks with Mother (Nočni hovory s matkou, 2000), which won the Golden Leopard at Locarno.
; the couple would divorce in the early 1970s.
Biography
Němec's career as a filmmaker in the late 1950s when he attended FAMUAcademy of Performing Arts in Prague
The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague is a university level school of music, dance, drama, film, TV and multi-media studies.- Faculties :*Film and TV School - FAMU*Music Faculty - HAMU*Theatre Faculty - DAMU-Notable alumni:...
, the most prestigious institution for film training in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. At this time, Czechoslovakia was a communist state subservient to the USSR and artistic and public expression
Artistic freedom
Artistic freedom is the extent of freedom of an artist to produce art to his/her own insight. The extent can deviate to customs in a certain school of art, directives of the assigner, etc....
was subject to censorship and government review. However, thanks largely to the failure of purely propagandist cinema in the early 1950s and the presence of important and powerful people within the Czechoslovak film industry, such as Jan Procházka, the 1960s led to an internationally acknowledged creative surge in Czechoslovak film that became known as the Czech New Wave, in which Němec played an instrumental part.
Professional
As a graduation film, Němec adapted a short story by Arnošt LustigArnošt Lustig
Arnošt Lustig was a renowned Czech Jewish author of novels, short stories, plays, and screenplays whose works have often involved the Holocaust.Lustig was born in Prague...
based on the author's experience of the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
: A Loaf of Bread (Sousta). Němec would return to Lustig's writing when he directed the influential film, Diamonds of the Night
Diamonds of the Night
Diamonds of the Night is a Czech 1964 film about two boys on the run from a train taking them to a concentration camp. It was director Jan Němec's first full-length feature film.-Plot:...
(Démanty noci, 1964), which was also based on the Holocaust. The film follows the fate of two boys who escape from a transit train to a concentration camp. It is noted for its dramatic subjectivization of the experience of the Holocaust using experimental techniques, including flashbacks, simulated hallucinations and an unusual double ending that leaves the viewer in doubt as to the fate of its protagonists. It was his first major success, and while it passed the censors' reviews, it helped lay the foundation for the political movement that was coming. More importantly, it remains an aesthetic and technical milestone in the exploration of human experience under extreme conditions.
His best known work is A Report on the Party and the Guests
A Report on the Party and the Guests
A Report on the Party and the Guests is a 1966 Czechoslovak drama film directed by Jan Němec. It was entered for the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, but the festival was aborted owing to the events of May 1968 in France.-Cast:* Ivan Vyskočil - host...
(O slavnosti a hostech, 1966). Its plot revolves around a group of friends on a picnic who are invited to a bizarre banquet by a charismatic sadist
Sadism and masochism as medical terms
In psychiatry, the terms sadism and masochism describe a personality type characterized by the actor or actrix deriving pleasure and gratification from inflicting physical pain and humiliation ; and from suffering pain and humiliation upon the self ; such pleasure often is sexual, but not...
, played by Ivan Vyskočil, who eventually bullies most of them into blind conformity and brutality while those who resist are hunted down. The film particularly received a bad reception from the authorities as Vyskočil in the film had a remarkable likeness to Lenin, though according to Peter Hames this was accidental. Moreover, the cast consisted of various dissident Czechoslovak intellectuals of the day, including Josef Škvorecký
Josef Škvorecký
Josef Škvorecký, CM is a leading contemporary Czech writer and publisher who has spent much of his life in Canada. He and his wife were long-time supporters of Czech dissident writers before the fall of communism in that country...
. The film was viewed as being so subversive to the Communist state
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 until end of 1989 , a Soviet satellite state of the Eastern Bloc....
that Antonín Novotný
Antonín Novotný
Antonín Novotný was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1953 to 1968, and also held the post of President of Czechoslovakia from 1957 to 1968. He was born in Letňany, now part of Prague....
, the President, was said to "climb the walls" on viewing it and Němec's arrest for subversion was considered.
However, before the political fallout from A Report on the Party and the Guests was able to take effect, he was able to have approved one more feature: Martyrs of Love (Mučedníci lásky, 1966). The film, perhaps in mind of the previous troubles he had suffered, was completely apolitical, but it's surrealist lyrical style did not endear it to the authorities and Němec was forced to work outside the government-approved system, producing the film Mother and Son (Mutter und Sohn, 1967), which won an award at the Oberhausen
Oberhausen
Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
Film Festival.
His next important feature was a documentary, Oratorio for Prague, of the Soviet-led invasion of Prague in 1968, which ended the liberal Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
. It was banned, but Němec's footage would eventually be used by countless international news organizations as stock footage of the invasion. Němec was also an advisor on Philip Kaufman's film adaption of The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (film)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a 1988 American film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Milan Kundera, published in 1984. Director Philip Kaufman and screenplay writer Jean-Claude Carrière show Czechoslovak artistic and intellectual life during the Prague Spring of the Communist...
(1988) with Němec's original film of the invasion being integrated.
After 1968, he left Czechoslovakia although he did return to the occupied country but was not allowed to make films so he waited and then after some fuss was eventually allowed to leave in 1974 with the warning that if he ever returned they would find an excuse to put him in prison so he was in effect thrown out. He then went on to Germany before eventually moving to the United States. Unable to work in traditional cinema, he was a pioneer in using video cameras to record weddings, including documenting the nuptials of the Swedish royal family.
After the fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989, he returned to his native country, where he has made several films, including Late Night Talks with Mother (Nočni hovory s matkou, 2000), which won the Golden Leopard at Locarno.
Personal
In 1969 Němec married singer Marta KubišováMarta Kubišová
Marta Kubišová is a Czech singer of iconic significance. By the time of the Prague Spring of 1968, with her song "Modlitba pro Martu" , she was one of the most popular female singers in Czechoslovakia.In 1967 she won Zlatý slavík award...
; the couple would divorce in the early 1970s.