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Information
- A.k.a.
- The Firemen's Ball
- Year
- 1967
- Runtime
- 73 min.
- Director
- Milos Forman
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy
- Rating *
- 7.6
- Votes *
- 7,527
- Checks
- 2,403
- Favs
- 208
- Dislikes
- 31
- Favs/checks
- 8.7% (1:12)
- Favs/dislikes
- 7:1
Top comments
-
Siskoid
Miloš Forman got the Czechoslovakian government angry with The Firemen’s Ball because firemen are authority figures and you don't make fun of Authority behind the Iron Curtain, apparently. Even if the film is based on a small town ball Forman and his crew attended during a previous production. Everything happens in one night. Old firemen are shown to be terrible event planners (the impromptu beauty pageant is particularly humorous), and not great at firefighting either, but it's the Committee structure that suffers a glancing blow, and thus the Communist regime in toto. There are certainly political allusions in the film, like the raffle prizes getting stolen (and especially the State's - I mean the fire brigade's - reaction to it) and how an old man who's lost everything is treated, but generally, it can all be taken as simple observational humor. Observations that happen to ridicule the wrong people. Or used it. Let's just be glad the film survived to reach our eyes and ears once the curtain lifted. It's very amusing. 1 year 10 months ago -
Matt Addis
During the height of the Cold War, many, especially in the west, had numerous fears and questions about the red regime. What if they drop the bomb? What if they invade? What if they infiltrate our government? “The Firemen’s Ball” asks a question that was hitherto ignored by mainstream discourse:
What if the communists were morons? 2 years ago -
Melvelet
"Milos Forman's "The Firemen's Ball" was banned "permanently and forever" by the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1968, as Soviet troops marched in to suppress a popular uprising. It was said to be a veiled attack on the Soviet system and its bureaucracy". (Roger Ebert's review)
A great satire. :) 10 years 9 months ago
Friends
Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!In 11 official lists
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This movie ranks #4 in Golden Foundation of Czech and Slovak Cinema
Golden Foundation of Cze…
4 -
This movie ranks #35 in Stanley Kubrick, Cinephile
Stanley Kubrick, Cinephi…
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This movie ranks #71 in Academy Award - Best International Feature Film Nominees
Academy Award - Best Int…
71 -
This movie ranks #143 in Geoff King's Film Comedy
Geoff King's Film Comedy
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This movie ranks #164 in Roger Ebert's Great Movies
Roger Ebert's Great Movi…
164 -
This movie ranks #165 in The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
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This movie ranks #239 in Amos Vogel's Film as a Subversive Art
Amos Vogel's Film as a S…
239 -
This movie ranks #286 in Mark Cousins's The Story of Film: An Odyssey
Mark Cousins's The Story…
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This movie ranks #321 in BFI's 360 Classic Feature Films Project
BFI's 360 Classic Featur…
321 -
This movie ranks #460 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See…
460 -
This movie ranks #821 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films
TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…
821