User Reviews

A Report on the Party and the Guests is an oddly nonsensical film about two groups of people who encounter one another in a forest and go on to a bizarre formal banquet in a clearing. The first, smaller group knows nothing about the gathering or the man it's supposed to honor yet they're quickly sucked into the bizarre goings on. The larger group acts rather thuggish if not downright fascist. Perhaps the oddest thing about this sometimes incomprehensible film is the reaction it inspired on its release as it was supposedly "banned forever." Thematically it's fairly clear that the film is about mindless conformity and the threat of authoritarianism, though it's odd that such a simple message was found so offensive. Perhaps I just don't know enough about Czechoslovakian history, though I do know that the Czech New Wave is famous for subtly veiled allegorical criticism of the dominant Soviet regime in other movies such as The Firemen's Ball, which A Report on the Party and the Guests shares certain similarities with. My best guess is that the group that is dragged into the party represents Czechoslovakia and the party itself is the Soviet Union, which exerts a lot of pressure on the small group that suffers from the association.

Stylistically this film is quite odd. In spite of its natural settings- there are no indoor scenes-the landscape receives very little attention. Instead, the film is shot in a style reminiscent of interview centric documentaries as the characters are usually filmed alone in close ups, especially when speaking. This is particularly odd when they are engaged in conversation. Everything is spatially disconnected, which makes the film disorienting at times. A Report on the Party and the Guests is an odd film which drags at times in spite of its rather short length but its oddness makes it a positive experience overall. No doubt this film would be very powerful indeed within the right context.

In the film The party and the guests a powerful landowner celebrates his birthday and combines the feast with the marriage of a couple in the nearby village. The villagers gather for the party on the fields next to a lake, where the landowner has placed dining-tables. He is the patron of an artist, who likes to play rather morbid and sadistic games. The guests are appalled with the behavior of the artist, but the richness of the landowner induces them to stay. Thet rush to sit on deceits (joke). Only one of the guests decides to leave (even his wife stays behind). After a while the artist stirs up the guests, and convinces them to hunt down the deserter. Obviously the narrative is rather oppressing. It shows how weak the mutual solidarity is, and how easily people are seduced by wealth. The combination of richness and power fosters a personality cult. The film criticizes the extravagances of capitalism and totalitarianism and perhaps fascism. During the hunt the guests glorify the Alsatian sheepdog, with aperitif of impressive size in its mouth (joke). Some spectators argue that the film contains also a criticism of the Leninist system, but I don't see it. Remember that its production has been paid by the state! Indeed the film was banned, but the reason probably was that the censors didn't like its style. You winsome, you lose some (pun intended). The producer Nemec exposes the social corruption, similar to the Nouvelle Vague of Jean-Luc Godard, but refrains from actually commenting. On the other hand, the orthodox censors adore proletarian realism. Stories should contain at least some elements of proletarian solidarity, and preferably some proletarian symbolism (for instance a picture of Lenin, or a red banner). It should be clearly elevating. To be fair, I agree with them. Or perhaps the censors simply didn't like or trust Nemec any more. If Leninist films interest you, see my other reviews. Needless to say that I welcome comments.

Whilst looking round for info on co-writer/(along with Ester Krumbachová) director Jan Nemec's interesting Czech New Wave (CNW) debut Diamonds In The Night,I found another of Nemec's works online… with English Subtitles!,which led to me getting ready to report on the party.

The plot:

Enjoying a picnic in the middle of a field,a small gang of bourgeois friends notice a large group appearing to appear to be on their way to a wedding/party.Spotting the bourgeois gang,a man called Rudolph steps out of the group and starts to get the bourgeois people to follow his orders.As they obey Rudolph's orders,the gang discover the party that he has planned for them.

View on the film:

Getting a badge of honour by being banned in the country for decades,the screenplay by Krumbachová & Nemec strikes the communist rule in the country at full force,as Rudolph and his gang circle round the bourgeois group in order to take each of their unique aspects and press them into conformity over following the "party" rules.Taking a seat at the party,the writers display a precise manner in the unfolding of the surrealism,with the picturesque picnic being stomped on for a party where you can never leave.

Moving away from the brittle realism of his debut, Nemec and cinematographer Jaromír Sofr set the movie on a startling table of surrealism. Manipulating the speed of film stock in an elegant CNW manner,Nemec and Sofr paint the party in dreamy stylisation,thanks to Nemec's smooth circling camera moves giving the film a wonderfully stark ghostly atmosphere,as the group of friends find themselves a part of Rudolph's party.