presents:
Karel Kachyňa’s darkly satirical, long-suppressed political-noir, is available for the first time anywhere on Blu-ray, and presented from a new HD transfer.
„A boldfaced, haunting satire in the vein of Juraj Herz’s wicked, legendary The Cremator, Karel Kachyňa’s Czech New Wave classic is as arresting as early Cassavetes and as paranoid as The Conversation, which came four years later“ — UCLA
„By far the best of the Czech movies banned when Dubček was toppled in 1969… the bitterest and most scathing account of what it takes to get ahead in a Communist bureaucracy“ — Time Out
„One of the most politically incendiary films to emerge from the Czechoslovak New Wave“ — EEFB
„Kachyña’s study of paranoia and desperation was understandably held from release by the Warsaw Pact immediately upon its completion in 1970, and has only been screened for audiences in the last decade or so. It’s worth the wait […] As a historical object lesson, it’s invaluable.“ — Film Threat
„The central, present tense plot of The Ear – its ferocious account of the disintegration of a marriage as untold tensions, resentments and problems are forced to the surface – has the intensity of Edward Albee or Eugene O’Neill and the intimate honesty of Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes From a Marriage“ — Senses of Cinema
A high-ranking Communist official and his wife begin to suspect that their home has been put under surveillance by the Party. Over one night, the growing tension exposes a bitter fault-line in their relationship, feeding an atmosphere of paranoia and dread.
Daring to address the taboos of the Stalinist era, The Ear was banned soon after completion and remained unseen until the fall of Communism twenty years later. Combining a blackly-comic portrait of a disintegrating marriage with a searing critique of totalitarianism, this landmark film is an extraordinary indictment of life under an oppressive system and remains starkly relevant today.
Our region-free Blu-ray Special Edition also features a filmed introduction to the film by author Peter Hames and also includes Vlastimil Venclík’s banned 1969 short The Uninvited Guest (Nezvaný host), an original Projection Booth commentary recorded especially for this release with Mike White, Ben Buckingham and Martin Kessler, and 20-page booklet featuring writing on the film by Peter Hames, producer Steven Schneider and journalist Graham Williamson.
Czechoslovakia, 1970
Length / The Ear: 95 minutes
Length / Special features: 36 mins
Sound / 2.0 Mono LPCM (48khz/16-bit)
Black and white
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Language: Czech
Subtitles: English
Blu-Ray BD50 / 1080p / 24fps / Region ABC
RRP: £19.99
Release Date: 26 Aug 2019
SRBD 024
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