Martyrs of Love, Jan Nemec (Czechoslovakia, 1967)

Archival Print!

(Mucednici lasky). Men in bowler hats running in unison down cobblestone streets, the curve of a woman’s leg, or a strange encounter between a working-class girl and a carriage-bound society swell: such are the strange visions of Nemec’s Martys of Love, a three-part music-filled ballad to that most uncontrollable of all desires, unattainable love. Deemed subversive by government censors for focusing on inept, lovesick protagonists rather than striving communist heroes, Martyrs of Love steadfastly ignored Czech socialist reality to instead draw from the rich traditions of the Czech Surrealist Group, with scenes seemingly woven from dreams. Cinematography by the great New Wave icon Miroslav Ondrícek, who later fled to the U.S. and worked with Milos Forman on such films as Amadeus (screening 4.5.14) and Ragtime. It is cowritten and costume-designed by Ester Krumbachová, an important New Wave figure who also cowrote and costumedA Report on the Party and Guests, Jaromil Jires's Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, and Vera Chytilová's just-as-infamous Daisies, as well as many other works; she and Nemec were briefly married.

—Jason Sanders

• Written by Nemec, Ester Krumbachova. Photographed by Miroslav Ondr.cek. With Marta Kubisova, Hana Kuberova, Jan Klusak, Karel Gott. (71 mins, In Czech with English subtitles, B&W, 35mm)