The Ear is one of the most absorbing films to emerge from the pairing of screenwriter Jan Procházka and director Karel Kachyňa. The Ear ( 1969) is a skilfully made psychological drama, reflecting similar characteristics to the surge of quality Czechoslovak films made during the liberal climate of the New Wave in the mid to late 1960s. As with other titles from this time, The Ear is critical of the methodology of totalitarianism – consequently it was only distributed to Czech audiences in 1990.

Essentially only two people feature in this intimate drama – husband and wife Ludvík and Anna (Radoslav Brzobohatý and Jiřina Bohdalová), who have become accustomed to the constant monitoring and eavesdropping conducted by state authorities. Indeed, they even have a prying “ear” in their home listening to their every conversation. But, one night, after returning home to their villa from a government reception, the ministerial deputy and his wife are gripped by panic. For they deduce that Ludvík is set to be arrested because of a critical report which he helped to write. 

With this projection, we would like to pay tribute to Mr. Radoslav Brzobohatý, who would have celebrated the 100th anniversary of his birth on September 13 and we commemorate 10 years since his death on September 12.

For more information about screening, and where to buy the tickets, please visit this link.  

The Ear - Invitation (PDF, 605 KB)

Source: Filmovyprehled.cz, CSFD.cz