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

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)

Trailer

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