It's a political allegory set in 1966 Czechoslovakia that was banned for many years except for a short time during Prague Spring in 1968.
The story follows a group of seven middle-class men and women having a picnic near a lake. There is a discussion about an obscure future event. At one point, they see what appears to be a wedding party dance by at a distance. They finally decide to proceed to get to the "celebration" in time.
Suddenly, the group is accosted by a significant number of men. The men are led by Rudolf (Jan Klusak). It's not clear if they are threatening or joking. Karel (Karel Mares) defies Rudolf at one point and is roughed up. Josef (Jirí Nemec) from the picnic group helps to bring peace. Then an older man in white appears. Known as The Host (Ivan Vyskocil), he welcomes everyone to his joint birthday party and wedding celebration. He reprimands Rudolph and seems to smooth everything over.
During the meal, the Host learns his guests occupy the wrong seats and that one of the men from the picnic has left. This causes great consternation, and the Host and Rudolf decide to go and find the missing man and return him to the party. They use a large dog with massive teeth to aid in the search.
The aura of threat over a façade of peace apparently offended the Czech government of the time. This is not usually my type of film, but I thought it effectively communicated its point. It was banned in 1967 because it had "nothing in common with our republic, socialism, and the ideals of Communism."
The story follows a group of seven middle-class men and women having a picnic near a lake. There is a discussion about an obscure future event. At one point, they see what appears to be a wedding party dance by at a distance. They finally decide to proceed to get to the "celebration" in time.
Suddenly, the group is accosted by a significant number of men. The men are led by Rudolf (Jan Klusak). It's not clear if they are threatening or joking. Karel (Karel Mares) defies Rudolf at one point and is roughed up. Josef (Jirí Nemec) from the picnic group helps to bring peace. Then an older man in white appears. Known as The Host (Ivan Vyskocil), he welcomes everyone to his joint birthday party and wedding celebration. He reprimands Rudolph and seems to smooth everything over.
During the meal, the Host learns his guests occupy the wrong seats and that one of the men from the picnic has left. This causes great consternation, and the Host and Rudolf decide to go and find the missing man and return him to the party. They use a large dog with massive teeth to aid in the search.
The aura of threat over a façade of peace apparently offended the Czech government of the time. This is not usually my type of film, but I thought it effectively communicated its point. It was banned in 1967 because it had "nothing in common with our republic, socialism, and the ideals of Communism."