Die Liebe einer Blondine

I don't think I've ever seen a movie that so faithfully captured the sense of place. I spent many months in the mid-60's in Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe, and when I recently saw this film, it brought tears of nostalgia to my eyes. The scene in the parents' house, when the family was faced with the arrival of the unexpected stranger, is documentary in its portrayal of how a household would look in those times, complete to the smallest details of housekeeping and behavior. It is light-hearted without being slapstick, and it is poignant without being corny. Every character is right on the mark. On my very very short list of the greatest movies ever. In short, it is perfect. See this film, and take the whole family.

Milos Forman's "Loves of a Blonde" which he made in Czechoslovakia in 1965 way before "Cuckoo Nest" and "Amadeus" tells a very simple bitter-sweet tale about a teenaged girl who works in a shoe factory in a small town. With sixteen girls to one man - her chances to find a man of her dreams were not very high. One evening, she meets an attractive and young piano player who tells her about Prague and compares her to a guitar that could've been painted by Picasso. After they spend the night together, he leaves and she travels to Prague to find him. The film has been one of my favorites for many years and my opinion did not change after I saw it again a week ago - funny, sad, tender, and realistic film about searching for love, broken promises, shattered hearts, and universality of hope.

Part of what was known as the Czech New Wave in the 1960s and this particular title a great favourite of Film clubs and societies back in my younger days. Director Milos Foreman, of course, left what is now known as the Czech Republic for the US where he made films as diverse as The People vs Larry Flynt, Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Before leaving he mad a trio of film in his native country of which this is probably the best although his similar and later film The Firemen's Ball had, perhaps even greater impact internationally being in colour. For A Blonde in Love Foreman uses mostly local people from the village where he shot with, I believe, only one professional actor who it turns out was as influenced by the non actors as there were by him. The young blonde of the title was the sister of the director's wife and gives a wonderful performance. Indeed the whole piece, barely a story, is a joy to watch despite the cringe worthy moments, on the dance floor in particular. A warm and caring film that is beautifully shot and despite an obvious air of austerity throughout still managing to convey a feeling of positivity. Lovely.

This is the second of Forman's Czech films I've watched after the other Criterion release, THE FIREMAN'S BALL (1967) - though that was via a late-night Italian TV broadcast some years ago; these two films constitute his most celebrated work from this early phase in his career.

While a pleasant and sharply-observed comedy-drama in itself, which must have seemed fresh at the time (particularly the intimate detail of its teenage romance), I feel that a lot of these unassuming but critically-acclaimed foreign films - often made under strained political conditions - tend to come off as overrated when viewed today (a similar recent example I encountered was CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS [1966]). That said, the film benefits immensely from the wonderful cinematography by Miroslav Ondricek (Forman's longtime collaborator).

Besides, it also includes a couple of lengthy - and delightful - set-pieces: the party sequence, in which the heroine and her two best friends are picked up by a trio of geeky middle-aged soldiers; the scene at the home of the girl's 'boyfriend' (with whom she had a one-night stand), where she causes a commotion by turning up unannounced on his doorstep with a packed suitcase!

The DVD supplements comprise an amusing but irrelevant deleted scene, and an interesting 17-minute interview with Forman - in which he discusses the film's genesis and how the mix of professional and untrained actors proved providential, sealing its essential charm.

It is true but sad that no one in the world would have known about a small Czech town named Zruc if Czech director Milos Forman had not made this film.It is a good thing that he has made it as its fresh appeal would ensure that it is remembered as a supreme example of a famous cinema movement of the sixties called Czech new wave."Lásky jedné Plavovlásky" is a touching film about sad realities, disappointments in love faced by innocent people when they pursue an idle romantic relationship.It is based on a real event which took place in Milos Forman's life when at Prague he saw a beautiful albeit a lost girl roaming in the middle of the night.We see the lives of young people especially young girls who feel bored as there is hardly any male companionship available to them.As this film was made in socialist times we also get to see the attitude of parents belonging to a socialist system.Milos Forman makes his film memorable when he deals with risks which young people take when they fall in live.He conveys that it is not so easy to continue a relationship which has remained frivolous from its inception.Loves of a blonde maintains it serious stance as there is a talk of a serious problem of dwindling male female ratio faced by many European nations.One of the most funny moments of this film include a good social experiment when an army unit is asked to move to Zruc in order to woo its lonely girls.