''Intimate Lighting'' ( cs, Intimní osvětlení) is a Czech

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Ivan Passer Ivan Passer (10 July 1933 – 9 January 2020) was a Czech film director and screenwriter, best known for his involvement in the Czechoslovak New Wave and for directing American films such as ''Born to Win'' (1971), '' Cutter's Way'' (1981) and ' ...

. It was released in 1965. It is widely considered as a major film of the

Czechoslovak New Wave The Czechoslovak New Wave (also Czech New Wave) is a term used for the Czechoslovak filmmakers who started making movies in the 1960s. The directors commonly included are Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová, Ivan Passer, Pavel Juráček, Jiří Menz ...

and to be Passer's most significant film.

Plot

A cello player in an orchestra, Peter, returns to his home village to see a childhood friend, Bambas. Bambas is a local music teacher and performs at funerals. Peter and his fiancee stay with Bambas and his family for the day and get involved in some comic exploits, including a possible symphony concert.

Cast

* Zdeněk Bezušek - Petr * Karel Blažek - Bambas * Věra Křesadlová - Štěpa, Petr's girlfriend * Jaroslava Štědrá - Marie, Karel's wife * Miroslav Cvrk - Kája, Karel's son * Dagmar Redinová - Marie, Karel's daughter * Karel Uhlík - Pharmacist * Vlastimila Vlková - Grandmother *

Jan Vostrčil Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

- Grandfather

Production history

Ivan Passer had previously made a short film, ''A Boring Afternoon'', which took home a prize at the Lorcano International Film Festival, but he had not directed any features when he was approached by his screenwriting friend

Jaroslav Papoušek Jaroslav Papoušek (19 February 1920 – 16 July 1996) was a Czech film director and screenwriter. He started as a sculptor, before writing screenplays with Miloš Forman and Ivan Passer. In 1968 he started directing his own screenplays. Sele ...

to direct ''Intimate Lighting''. According to Passer, Papoušek needed money but he could not get paid until he found a director who was willing to attach themselves to his script. Papoušek was rejected by everyone he contacted, forcing him to ask Passer for a favor despite his lack of experience. Passer agreed to help his friend, never expecting the film to be actually made. A few months later, he was surprised when he was told to start work on the project even though the studio had openly expressed their reservations about the script.

Reception

Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a c ...

of '' The Chicago Reader'' called it "one of the finest works of the short-lived Czech New Wave...Passer has forged something funny and rare: a genuine comedy of melancholy — a ''gray'' comedy."

Jim Hoberman James Lewis Hoberman (born March 14, 1949) is an American film critic, journalist, author and academic. He began working at ''The Village Voice'' in the 1970s, became a full-time staff writer in 1983, and was the newspaper's senior film critic ...

of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' wrote that it was "a small masterpiece...less interested in narrative than a state of being, the movie is as subtle in its emotional effects as its title would suggest."

References

External links

* 1965 films 1965 comedy-drama films 1960s Czech-language films Czech black-and-white films Czech comedy-drama films Films directed by Ivan Passer Films with screenplays by Ivan Passer 1960s Czech films {{1960s-CzechRepublic-film-stub