Black Peter

  • Miloš Forman
  • Czechoslovakia
  • 1963
  • 89'
  • Černý Petr

A tragicomedy about a 16-year-old young man who encounters the hypocrisy of the adult world during his first job. Petr starts working behind the till in a small-town supermarket but his real task is to watch for potential shoplifters. At home, he is under pressure from his father and his girlfriend starts paying attention to someone else. Black Peter captures the essence of an ordinary summer in a small Czech town in the early sixties but also the feelings of arising rebellion among the youth in the Eastern bloc. Filmed in a cinéma vérité style, the camera buzzes around the characters played by non-professional actors. This amazing debut feature film about generational alienation is one of the key works of the Czechoslovak New Wave.

Subtitles: HR

Miloš Forman

The film Loves of a Blonde (1965) earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Fireman’s Ball (1967) is his last film before moving to the US, where he directed classics such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), which won Oscars in the categories of Best Director, Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress, followed by Hair (1979), Amadeus (1984, his second Oscar for direction), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), and others.

Black Peter

Director
Miloš Forman
Screenplay
Miloš Forman, Jaroslav Papoušek
Cast
Ladislav Jakim, Pavla Martínková, Jan Vostrčil, Vladimír Pucholt
DOP
Jan Němeček
Editing
Miroslav Hájek
Production
Filmové studio Barrandov
Festivals & Awards
Locarno Festival 1964 – Best Feature Film & Young Critics’ Award; Venice Film Festival 1964 – Italian Film Clubs Award & Cinema 60 Award; Czechoslovak Film Critics’ Prize 1964; New York Film Festival 1964; Oberhausen Short Film Festival 1964 – Young Critics’ Prize; Jussi Awards 1967 – Best Foreign Film

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