The Joke (1969)
- Original title
- Žert
- Directed by
- Jaromil Jireš
- Genre
- drama film, comedy film, parable
- Country
- Czechoslovakia
- Runtime
- 1h 20m
- Rating
- 6.5 of 10 from 41 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A man is expelled from the Communist Party for a joking postcard he wrote to his girlfriend. Years later, he plans a revenge through seduction.
satiricalbitterreflectiveslow-burnsomberunsettlingmelancholiccerebral
What happens
The Joke (Czech: Žert) is a 1969 Czechoslovak film by director Jaromil Jireš. It is considered one of the last films of the Czech New Wave movement. Based on Milan Kundera's 1967 novel of the same name, The Joke tells the story of Ludvík Jahn, a man expelled from the Czechoslovak 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". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
End of a Priest (1969)
All My Compatriots (1969)
Intimate Lighting (1965)
Muž, který stoupl v ceně (1967)
Hotel for Strangers (1967)
A Report on the Party and the Guests (1966)
Já, truchlivý bůh (1969)
The Cremator (1969)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.