Jan Nemec - O slavnosti a hostech (The Party and the Guests, 1966)

Distinguished by being 'banned forever' in its native Czechoslovakia, Němec's film is a masterpiece of barbed, darkly sinister wit. As a biting satire of authoritarianism and conformity and with its astute observations of human nature, the film's universal relevance continues to this day.








A miracle of the Czech New Wave, distinguished with being "banned forever" shortly after it was completed. Voted one of the best films of the year by The New York Times, it is "an extraordinary allegory…evocative of Kafka or Dostoevsky" ~ (International Film Guide).
A group of picnickers are led to an elegant banquet, where the "guests" quickly turn collaborators in this brilliant analysis of society and the individual.







Nemec's film is cerebral and precise : an impression of humanity, half-aware, half-willing to acquiesce, in the grip of an obsessive authority which seduces with a promise of the good life, and with a guile that barely masks the lust to dominate. ~ Films & Filming