Adapted from Jerzy Kosiński’s novel, “The Painted Bird” comes to life through Vàclav Marhoul’s lens. Shot in black and white, the film tells the story of The Boy as he wanders around Eastern European villages during World War II struggling for survival.
As he suffers through the devastating brutality and horrors of war, it’s Vladimir Smutney’s stunning cinematography and images that sear into our minds — being buried up to his neck, being kicked and punched by bullies as he watches his pet die and watching eyes being gouged out — and those are just some of the wartime horrors he witnesses.
Smutney breaks down what it was like to frame his first film in black and white. “The Painted Bird” premieres on VOD and streaming services on July 17.
What was the first thing Vaclav told you about the film?
The first time, Václav Marhoul told me about...
As he suffers through the devastating brutality and horrors of war, it’s Vladimir Smutney’s stunning cinematography and images that sear into our minds — being buried up to his neck, being kicked and punched by bullies as he watches his pet die and watching eyes being gouged out — and those are just some of the wartime horrors he witnesses.
Smutney breaks down what it was like to frame his first film in black and white. “The Painted Bird” premieres on VOD and streaming services on July 17.
What was the first thing Vaclav told you about the film?
The first time, Václav Marhoul told me about...
- 7/17/2020
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Bungalow (Ulrich Köhler)
Ulrich Köhler remains underseen—even by the standards of Berlin School brethren Christian Petzold and Maren Ade—and a 4K restoration of his 2002 debut Bungalow comes at the right time: its story of isolation, frayed connections, and romantic infatuation foreground an only idyllic-seeming summer getaway. 18 years on, not a shred of it feels dated or resolved, down to a conclusion that puts one in mind of ’70s American classics.
Where to Stream: Grasshopper Film
Czechoslovak New Wave
A period of creative fervor and political deconstruction like few others in cinema, Czechoslovak New Wave is now getting a spotlight on The Criterion Channel. Selections includes Black Peter (Miloš Forman,...
Bungalow (Ulrich Köhler)
Ulrich Köhler remains underseen—even by the standards of Berlin School brethren Christian Petzold and Maren Ade—and a 4K restoration of his 2002 debut Bungalow comes at the right time: its story of isolation, frayed connections, and romantic infatuation foreground an only idyllic-seeming summer getaway. 18 years on, not a shred of it feels dated or resolved, down to a conclusion that puts one in mind of ’70s American classics.
Where to Stream: Grasshopper Film
Czechoslovak New Wave
A period of creative fervor and political deconstruction like few others in cinema, Czechoslovak New Wave is now getting a spotlight on The Criterion Channel. Selections includes Black Peter (Miloš Forman,...
- 7/3/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
There’s a reason director Jan Nemec’s name isn’t immediately conjures in superficial conversations on the Czech New Wave, despite his haunting 1964 debut Diamonds of the Night being one of the movement’s first major offerings. Described as “the movement’s bitterest aesthete” and by film historian Peter Hames as the “enfant terrible” of his peers, Nemec had neither the eventual Hollywood success of colleagues such as Milos Forman or Ivan Passer, nor international awards glory such as the Oscar winning The Shop on Main Street (1965) from Jan Kadar and Elmar Klos. Such is the price to pay for the revel.…...
- 5/7/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Director Jan Němec made his name during the Czech New Wave of the 1960s, and later saw his career cut short when the ruling party decided to classify one of his films as ‘banned forever.’ This first feature is a striking chase story about two young men escaped from a Nazi prison train. It experiments with filmic space, looking for psychological depth by mixing a subjective pursuit with the main characters’ memories and thought-dreams. The extras give us a close-up look at a director who paid a steep price for defying the state.
Diamonds of the Night
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 969
1964 / B&W / 1:37 flat Full Frame / 67 min. / Démanty noci / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 16, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Ladislav Janský, Antonín Kumbera, Ilse Bischofova.
Cinematography: Jaroslav Kučera, Miroslava Ondřiček
Film Editor: Miroslav Hájek
Original Music: Vlastimil Hála, Jan Rychlík
Written by Jan Němec, Arnošt Lustig from Lustig’s...
Diamonds of the Night
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 969
1964 / B&W / 1:37 flat Full Frame / 67 min. / Démanty noci / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 16, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Ladislav Janský, Antonín Kumbera, Ilse Bischofova.
Cinematography: Jaroslav Kučera, Miroslava Ondřiček
Film Editor: Miroslav Hájek
Original Music: Vlastimil Hála, Jan Rychlík
Written by Jan Němec, Arnošt Lustig from Lustig’s...
- 4/6/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Party And The Guests which was "banned forever" by the Czechoslovak government The first UK retrospective of Czechoslovak New Wave Jan Němec will be held as part of this year's Made in Prague Film Festival. The festival will screen 11 of his features as shorts as part of its 21st edition, which runs from November 10 to 19.
The Němec retrospective will include two of the best films of the 60s, as voted by the New York Times critics, Diamonds Of The Night and The Party And The Guests, as well as Oratorio for Prague, which offers unique coverage of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia and is being screened in the UK for the first time. The documentary was intended to be about peaceful demonstrations but his subject changed as Soviet tanks rolled into Prague and the director found himself filming the despair and blood of the people instead, in what is the...
The Němec retrospective will include two of the best films of the 60s, as voted by the New York Times critics, Diamonds Of The Night and The Party And The Guests, as well as Oratorio for Prague, which offers unique coverage of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia and is being screened in the UK for the first time. The documentary was intended to be about peaceful demonstrations but his subject changed as Soviet tanks rolled into Prague and the director found himself filming the despair and blood of the people instead, in what is the...
- 10/21/2017
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Last week we learned, via the National Film Archive (Czech Republic) that Janus Films (and the Criterion Collection) had just signed a new deal with plans to bring 30 classic Czech films to the Us.
From the announcement:
The National Film Archive has concluded an important contract with distribution company Janus Films which opens the road to expending knowledge of Czech classic films in all of North America.
Among the more than 30 Czech classic films available to American audiences for screening in cinemas and on DVD in the Us and Canada are titles such as The Cremator, Marketa Lazarová, All My Good Countrymen, Three Nuts for Cinderella. It’s made possible thanks to a new contract signed by National Film Archive director Michal Bregant and distribution company Janus Films.
Michal Bregant offered a comment: “We have signed the contract symbolically this week in Bologna at the festival Il cinema ritrovato, which...
From the announcement:
The National Film Archive has concluded an important contract with distribution company Janus Films which opens the road to expending knowledge of Czech classic films in all of North America.
Among the more than 30 Czech classic films available to American audiences for screening in cinemas and on DVD in the Us and Canada are titles such as The Cremator, Marketa Lazarová, All My Good Countrymen, Three Nuts for Cinderella. It’s made possible thanks to a new contract signed by National Film Archive director Michal Bregant and distribution company Janus Films.
Michal Bregant offered a comment: “We have signed the contract symbolically this week in Bologna at the festival Il cinema ritrovato, which...
- 7/12/2017
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
The woods hold an unmistakable allure, familiar yet unknown, idyllic, yet fraught with peril. They are the heart of Happy Times Will Come, shot in natural light, which often means that viewers are abandoned in darkness to develop our senses. Indeed, the film thrusts us into the stark indigo night where a pair of fugitives scurrying up a steep hill are long heard before they are seen. Once the sun peeks out, dappling everything in its midst to beguiling effect, it’s not difficult to acclimate to the sights–the crooked crags aside a crisp brook or a verdant curtain of trees. Meanwhile, the young men, peculiarly unplaceable in time, forage for mushrooms or tussle in the high grass. Combining personal history and fabricated folklore, Italian director Alessandro Comodin imbues the alpine setting, already easy on the eyes, with a spectral glow and timelessness. The effect extends to a brief interlude of talking head interviews,...
- 3/28/2017
- MUBI
The final film of Jan Nemec, who died in March, to play in the main competition.Scroll down for competition line-ups
The 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 1-9) has unveiled the competition titles in its Official Selection, East of the West and Documentary sections.
The 12-strong main competition will comprise eight world premieres and four international premieres, including the last film from renowned Czech director Jan Nemec, who died in March.
The Czech filmmaker was a notable voice of the country’s New Wave movement of the 1960s with titles such as Diamonds Of The Night (1964). His final film, The Wolf From Royal Vineyard Street, will world premiere at Kviff and is an adaptation of his own quasi-autobiographical short stories.
Other titles include Slovak-Czech drama The Teacher from Jan Hrebejk while Roberto Andò is returning to Kviff with The Confessions, three years after his hit Viva la Libertà.
Debut features...
The 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 1-9) has unveiled the competition titles in its Official Selection, East of the West and Documentary sections.
The 12-strong main competition will comprise eight world premieres and four international premieres, including the last film from renowned Czech director Jan Nemec, who died in March.
The Czech filmmaker was a notable voice of the country’s New Wave movement of the 1960s with titles such as Diamonds Of The Night (1964). His final film, The Wolf From Royal Vineyard Street, will world premiere at Kviff and is an adaptation of his own quasi-autobiographical short stories.
Other titles include Slovak-Czech drama The Teacher from Jan Hrebejk while Roberto Andò is returning to Kviff with The Confessions, three years after his hit Viva la Libertà.
Debut features...
- 5/31/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Rushes collects news, articles, images, videos and more for a weekly roundup of essential items from the world of film.News Jan Němec, the Czech director of Diamonds of the Night (1964), has died. Keyframe has an overview of his work. Above: the Czech poster for Němec's 1966 film, A Report on the Party and the Guests, via Adrian Curry's blog Movie Poster of the Day.Speculation around the 2016 Cannes Film Festival selection is raging, but Variety is pretty sure it will include several new American films, including new movies directed by Sean Penn, Woody Allen and Jeff Nichols.The Criterion Collection has announced its next lineup of releases, which includes Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Olivier Assayas's Clouds of Sils Maria, and Michelangelo Antonionio's Le amiche.New issues of Cinema Scope and Senses of Cinema are out. Yes,...
- 3/23/2016
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Czech filmmaker was a notable voice of the country’s New Wave movement of the 1960s.
Jan Nemec, the Czech film director known as an important voice of the Czech New Wave of the 1960s, has died at the age of 79, according to local news reports.
Born in Prague in 1936, Nemec learned his craft at the city’s prestigious art school the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
In the 1960s he was one of a number of film-makers alongside the likes of Milos Forman who participated in a surge of creative talent, dubbed the Czechoslovak New Wave, which rose as a reaction to Communist propaganda cinema of the 1950s.
His debut feature was 1964 Holocaust drama Diamonds Of The Night, which told the story of two boys who escape from a train en route to a concentration camp. His next feature Report On The Party And Guests was a political satire that was banned by Communist censors...
Jan Nemec, the Czech film director known as an important voice of the Czech New Wave of the 1960s, has died at the age of 79, according to local news reports.
Born in Prague in 1936, Nemec learned his craft at the city’s prestigious art school the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
In the 1960s he was one of a number of film-makers alongside the likes of Milos Forman who participated in a surge of creative talent, dubbed the Czechoslovak New Wave, which rose as a reaction to Communist propaganda cinema of the 1950s.
His debut feature was 1964 Holocaust drama Diamonds Of The Night, which told the story of two boys who escape from a train en route to a concentration camp. His next feature Report On The Party And Guests was a political satire that was banned by Communist censors...
- 3/21/2016
- ScreenDaily
Czech filmmaker was a notable voice of the country’s New Wave movement of the 1960s.
Jan Nemec, the Czech film director known as an important voice of the Czech New Wave of the 1960s, has died at the age of 79, according to local news reports.
Born in Prague in 1936, Nemec learned his craft at the city’s prestigious art school the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
In the 1960s he was one of a number of film-makers alongside the likes of Milos Forman who participated in a surge of creative talent, dubbed the Czechoslovak New Wave, which rose as a reaction to Communist propaganda cinema of the 1950s.
His debut feature was 1964 Holocaust drama Diamonds Of The Night, which told the story of two boys who escape from a train en route to a concentration camp. His next feature Report On The Party And Guests was a political satire that was banned by Communist censors...
Jan Nemec, the Czech film director known as an important voice of the Czech New Wave of the 1960s, has died at the age of 79, according to local news reports.
Born in Prague in 1936, Nemec learned his craft at the city’s prestigious art school the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
In the 1960s he was one of a number of film-makers alongside the likes of Milos Forman who participated in a surge of creative talent, dubbed the Czechoslovak New Wave, which rose as a reaction to Communist propaganda cinema of the 1950s.
His debut feature was 1964 Holocaust drama Diamonds Of The Night, which told the story of two boys who escape from a train en route to a concentration camp. His next feature Report On The Party And Guests was a political satire that was banned by Communist censors...
- 3/21/2016
- ScreenDaily
Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2014 discoveries”…
Patrick Brice: It Follows by David Robert Mitchell was one of the best cinematic experiences I’ve had in a long time. The same goes for Jan Nemec’s Diamonds of the Night. I probably listened to Black Silk by Spooky Black more than any other record this year. I’d listen to it every morning driving home after filming all night on The Overnight. It’s great music for watching the sun come up.
Lavallee: Will fans find tonal commonalities between job prospects malaise in Creep, and the challenges of making new friends in The Overnight?
Brice: I think there are some definite similarities. Both films are about the pitfalls of people trying to connect with one another. Structurally they both kinda feel like amusement park rides to me in how the plot and characters reveal themselves.
Lavallee: Did...
Patrick Brice: It Follows by David Robert Mitchell was one of the best cinematic experiences I’ve had in a long time. The same goes for Jan Nemec’s Diamonds of the Night. I probably listened to Black Silk by Spooky Black more than any other record this year. I’d listen to it every morning driving home after filming all night on The Overnight. It’s great music for watching the sun come up.
Lavallee: Will fans find tonal commonalities between job prospects malaise in Creep, and the challenges of making new friends in The Overnight?
Brice: I think there are some definite similarities. Both films are about the pitfalls of people trying to connect with one another. Structurally they both kinda feel like amusement park rides to me in how the plot and characters reveal themselves.
Lavallee: Did...
- 1/24/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The Austin Film Society is taking a few days off for the holidays, but will return this weekend with a special series called "Jan Nemec: Rediscovered Treasures of the Czechoslovak New Wave." 2005's Toyen screens on Sunday night (December 1) while Diamonds Of The Night and A Loaf Of Bread play next Monday and Wednesday. All three titles are screening in rare 35mm prints. Meanwhile, the latest Afs Essential Cinema series on Irish cinema (our preview) screens 1995's Nothing Personal next Thursday.
The Paramount is kicking off its annual Holiday Film Series with Elf on Sunday and a double feature of It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story next Wednesday. All films are screening in 35mm and there will be a few more titles in the weeks ahead. Check out Elizabeth's chat about the series with Paramount programmer Stephen Jannise.
The Alamo Drafthouse begins a new film series focused on...
The Paramount is kicking off its annual Holiday Film Series with Elf on Sunday and a double feature of It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story next Wednesday. All films are screening in 35mm and there will be a few more titles in the weeks ahead. Check out Elizabeth's chat about the series with Paramount programmer Stephen Jannise.
The Alamo Drafthouse begins a new film series focused on...
- 11/27/2013
- by Matt Shiverdecker
- Slackerwood
The French New Wave was not the only new wave of the 1960s: during a temporary loosening of the Communist regime’s hold on culture, Czechoslovakia had its own new wave that produced films just as beautiful, witty, exciting, innovative and thought-provoking as the French. The 1960s saw two Czechoslovak winners of the foreign language Oscar: The Shop on Main Street in 1965 and Closely Observed Trains in 1967. Like the French New Wave filmmakers, Czech New Wave directors such as Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová and Jan Němec were well-versed in film history. Although Communism had restricted their access to more recent international trends in film, philosophy, politics, art and literature, during the 1960s Czechoslovak students, artists and intellectuals had greater access to contemporary movements and ideas and embraced them enthusiastically. The country was also able to reconnect with its own artistic and cultural past, formerly repressed by Communism: one major example is the work of Kafka,...
- 2/26/2013
- by Alison Frank
- The Moving Arts Journal
★★★★☆ Many a film fan may have gone through life thus far without lavishing an abundance of attention on the cinema of Czechoslovakia - or even, for that matter, being aware of the Czech New Wave. This movement saw films of previously unseen quality coming from the country in the 1960s, including highly regarded work from directors such as the acclaimed Miloš Forman. Now, esteemed UK world cinema distributors Second Run are releasing a collection of three titles from this period: Diamonds of the Night (1964) directed by Jan Němec; Ivan Passer's Intimate Lighting (1965); and The Cremator (1969) by Juraj Herz.
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 11/27/2012
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Cannes 2010 Coverage
David Cairns
The Forgotten: Trigger Happy Punks
The Forgotten: Mood Swings
The Forgotten: Seduced and Abandoned
Adrian Curry
Movie Poster of the Week: "Guns"
Movie Poster of the Week: "Tentacles"
Movie Poster of the Week: "Tropical Malady"
Movie Poster of the Week: "La religieuse"
Daniel Kasman
Image of the Day. Records of Material Objects in the Cinema #1
R.I.P. William Lubtchansky
Images of the Day. Ideal Couples
Cannes 2010. Favorite Moments: Days 1 & 2
Cannes 2010. An Actor-Director and His Women: "Tournée" (Mathieu Amalric, France)
Cannes 2010. 3-Wall Realism: "Tuesday, After Christmas" (Radu Muntean, Romania)
Cannes 2010: Sincere Love: "The Strange Case of Angelica" (Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal)
Cannes 2010. Favorite Moments: Day 3
Cannes 2010: A Devil without the Details: "Aurora" (Cristi Puiu, Romania)
Cannes 2010. Love-Hate Relationships: "Au petite bonheur" (Marcel L’Herbier, France, 1946)
Cannes 2010. Playful Protest: "Hands Up" (Romain Goupil, France)
Cannes 2010. Favorite Moments: Day 4
Cannes 2010. Today's Quiet City: "I Wish I Knew" (Jia Zhangke,...
David Cairns
The Forgotten: Trigger Happy Punks
The Forgotten: Mood Swings
The Forgotten: Seduced and Abandoned
Adrian Curry
Movie Poster of the Week: "Guns"
Movie Poster of the Week: "Tentacles"
Movie Poster of the Week: "Tropical Malady"
Movie Poster of the Week: "La religieuse"
Daniel Kasman
Image of the Day. Records of Material Objects in the Cinema #1
R.I.P. William Lubtchansky
Images of the Day. Ideal Couples
Cannes 2010. Favorite Moments: Days 1 & 2
Cannes 2010. An Actor-Director and His Women: "Tournée" (Mathieu Amalric, France)
Cannes 2010. 3-Wall Realism: "Tuesday, After Christmas" (Radu Muntean, Romania)
Cannes 2010: Sincere Love: "The Strange Case of Angelica" (Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal)
Cannes 2010. Favorite Moments: Day 3
Cannes 2010: A Devil without the Details: "Aurora" (Cristi Puiu, Romania)
Cannes 2010. Love-Hate Relationships: "Au petite bonheur" (Marcel L’Herbier, France, 1946)
Cannes 2010. Playful Protest: "Hands Up" (Romain Goupil, France)
Cannes 2010. Favorite Moments: Day 4
Cannes 2010. Today's Quiet City: "I Wish I Knew" (Jia Zhangke,...
- 6/2/2010
- MUBI
One of my favorite phrases, the origin of which I can't say I rightly know, is "simple as death." The phrase came to mind quite a few times while watching this entirely extraordinary film in a beautiful DVD release from the ever-crucial U.K. label Second Run. It is the first feature from director Czech director Jan Nemec, who would achieve international fame with his subsequent film The Party and the Guests. Party is an allegory of power and oppression...but there's nothing allegorical about Diamonds of the Night. There's nothing realistic about it either. That is to say, its reality is convincing and brutal and very close—harrowingly close—to the reality of life as we may know it and historical reality and all the rest, but the film is not "realistic." While its premise is as simple as death, its execution and texture is as complicated, and knotty,...
- 5/11/2010
- MUBI
One of my favorite phrases, the origin of which I can't say I rightly know, is "simple as death." The phrase came to mind quite a few times while watching this entirely extraordinary film in a beautiful DVD release from the ever-crucial U.K. label Second Run. It is the first feature from director Czech director Jan Nemec, who would achieve international fame with his subsequent film The Party and the Guests. Party is an allegory of power and oppression...but there's nothing allegorical about Diamonds of the Night. There's nothing realistic about it either. That is to say, its reality is convincing and brutal and very close—harrowingly close—to the reality of life as we may know it and historical reality and all the rest, but the film is not "realistic." While its premise is as simple as death, its execution and texture is as complicated, and knotty,...
- 5/11/2010
- MUBI
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