| The Joke | |
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| Directed by | Jaromil Jireš |
| Produced by | Milos Stejskal |
| Screenplay by | Jaromil Jires and Milan Kundera |
| Based on | The Joke by Milan Kundera |
| Starring | Josef Somr, Jana Dítetová, Ludek Munzar |
| Music by | Zdenek Pololáník |
| Cinematography | Jan Curík |
| Editing by | Josef Valusiak |
| Running time | 81 min |
| Country | Czechoslovakia |
| Language | Czech |
The Joke (Czech: Zert) is a 1969 Czechoslovakian film by director Jaromil Jireš. It is considered one of the last films of the Czech New Wave movement.[1]
Based on Milan Kundera's novel of the same name, The Joke tells the story of Ludvik Jahn, a man expelled from the Czechoslovakian Communist Party for an idle joke to his girlfriend, and the revenge he later seeks through adultery. The film was produced during the political liberalization of the 1968 Prague Spring and contains many scenes which satirize and criticize the country's communist leadership. Amos Vogel wrote that the film was "possibly the most shattering indictment of totalitarianism to come out of a Communist country".[2]
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Plot [link]
The scientist Ludvik Jahn returns to his hometown after two decades away. He is interviewed by Helena, an attractive older woman whom he begins to seduce. Jahn then discovers Helena is married to Pavel, an old rival.
Jahn flashes back to his college days and his love for Marketa, a devout believer in communism. In an attempt to make the humorless Marketa lighten up, Jahn sends her a postcard reading "Optimism is the opium of mankind. A 'healthy spirit' stinks of stupidity. Long live Trotsky! Yours, Ludvik". Marketa turns the postcard over to the Party, however, and Jahn is brought before a party hearing to answer for his words. Pavel, a friend who had pledged to help him, calls in the meeting for Jahn's expulsion from the college and the Communist Party, and Marketa joins the vote against him.
Jahn then undergoes six years of "reeducation", which are split between prison, mining, and army service under a sadistic drill sergeant. While in the army, a true believer of communism in his unit appeals to higher authorities against their treatment; when the man is consequently expelled from the Party, he commits suicide.
In the present, Jahn successfully seduces Helena, motivated more from a desire for revenge on Pavel than attraction to her. Though Helena falls in love with him, he discovers that she and Pavel have long been estranged, and Pavel has a new lover of his own.
Reception [link]
The Joke was released in 1969, some months after the August 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia had put an end to the freedoms of the Prague Spring. Though a success in theaters, authorities banned it for the next twenty years, making it "one of the New Wave’s most renowned casualties".[2]
The film was released on VHS in 2002 by Facets Video[3] and on DVD in 2012 by the Criterion Collection's Eclipse line.[2]
Criterion essayist Michael Koresky described the film as regarded as "the definitive take on the Stalinist era in Czechoslovakia".[2] Cineaste stated that The Joke was "a modest, quiet film" that was "permeated with irony", though its ironic juxtapositions were occasionally heavy-handed, such as cutting between a group singing the revolutionary song "No More Masters" and Jahn and other prisoners breaking rocks in a quarry.[1]
References [link]
- ^ a b Leonard Quart. "The Joke". Cineaste Fall 2003: 60-1.
- ^ a b c d Michael Koresky. "Eclipse Series 32: Pearls of the Czech New Wave". The Criterion Collection. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2269-eclipse-series-32-pearls-of-the-czech-new-wave. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- ^ "The Joke (1969)". allmovie.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2012. https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-joke-v141296/releases. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
External links [link]
https://wn.com/The_Joke_(film)
Joke (disambiguation)
A joke is a humorous question, short story or quip.
Joke(s) or The Joke may also refer to:
- The Joke (film), a 1969 film based on the Kundera novel
In music:
See also
String Quartets, Op. 33 (Haydn)
The Op. 33 String Quartets were written by Joseph Haydn in the summer and Autumn of 1781 for the Viennese publisher Artaria. This set of quartets has several nicknames, the most common of which is the "Russian" quartets, because Haydn dedicated the quartets to the Grand Duke Paul of Russia and many (if not all) of the quartets were premiered on Christmas Day, 1781, at the Viennese apartment of the Duke's wife, the Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna.
Opus 33 No. 1
This quartet in B minor is numbered in variously as No. 31, Hob. III:37 and FHE No. 70.
The first movement pretends to start in D major before settling in the home key of B minor, echoed by Haydn's later quartet in B minor, Op. 64, No. 2.
Opus 33 No. 2
This quartet in E-flat major, nicknamed The Joke is numbered in variously as No. 30, Hob. III:38 and FHE No. 71.
The Joke (novel)
The Joke (Czech: Žert) is Milan Kundera's first novel, originally published in 1967.
Plot
The novel is composed of many jokes, which have strong effects on the characters. The story is told from the four viewpoints of Ludvik Jahn, Helena Zemánková, Kostka, and Jaroslav. Jaroslav's joke is the transition away from his coveted Moravian folk lifestyle and appreciation. Kostka, who has separated himself from the Communist Party due to his Christianity, serves as a counterpoint to Ludvik. Helena serves as Ludvik's victim and is satirical of the seriousness of party supporters. Ludvik demonstrates the shortcomings of the party and propels the plot in his search for revenge and redemption.
Written in 1965 Prague and first published in Czechoslovakia in 1967, the novel opens with Ludvik Jahn looking back on the joke that changed his life in the early 1950s. Ludvik was a dashing, witty, and popular student who supported the Party. Like most of his friends, he was an enthusiastic supporter of the still-fresh Communist regime in post-World War II Czechoslovakia. In a playful mood, he writes a postcard to a girl in his class during their summer break. Since Ludvik believes she is too serious, he writes on the postcard, "Optimism is the opium of mankind! A healthy spirit stinks of stupidity! Long live Trotsky!" His colleagues and fellow young-party leaders did not see the humour in the sentiment expressed in the postcard. Ludvik finds himself expelled from the party and college and drafted to a part of the Czech military where alleged subversives form work brigades and spend the next few years working in mines.
