L'oreille

Most impressive feature, made at the end of the 60s, with Russian troops already on the streets, and not released until 1990. Shot in stark b/w, very much with the look we came to expect of the Czech New Wave of the 1960s but lacking that romantic twinkle. Here we are plunged in to the tale of a couple, she drunk, he concerned and trying to get back into their house after a lavish State function. We cut back and forth between the childlike but ominous activities at the official do and the struggle without lights or door keys at home. Much of the action between the husband and wife is shot in close-up and the discord and insult exchange is reminiscent of Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf? But things get worse as the real paranoia of who might be listening in to their conversations becomes more worrying. The omnipresent 'Ear' probes a considerable level of paranoia and we too become involved in a terrifying scenario which may or may not imaginary. Stunning ending, both happy and very sad.

As other reviewers mentioned, there are indeed echoes of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", so this movie is WAOTVF + a political drama thriller. If that sounds interesting to you, watch it, it definitely won't disappoint you. It takes place in one night, it's very interesting, script is "tight", not a single second is wasted, good use of flashbacks and the acting is great.

It's not a masterpiece though like WAOTVW. Furthermore, i won't say that some things didn't make sense but i didn't get convinced entirely, i mean, during the last 20 minutes or so, a character was too hostile against the other and this character's transition was not so smooth. It didn't feel real, whereas during the first hour, it was like watching a real couple arguing with each other.

Despite these flaws, this is a good movie.

The acute paranoia of daily life behind the Iron Curtain haunts a petty bureaucrat after he overhears an indiscreet remark at a party and becomes convinced his house is under government surveillance. Not surprisingly, the film spent over two decades in official limbo for daring to paint an unflattering portrait of Big Brother, showing the unseen influence of the State in a society where privilege is bought at the cost of privacy. The story begins where Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Conversation' left off, with the anxious civil servant and his equally suspicious wife trapped in a claustrophobic, dark comic nightmare of hidden microphones, tapped telephones, and invisible prying eyes, all the time wondering why the axe of political expedience is aimed at their innocent necks. The scenario would be absurd if it weren't so unsettling, and succeeds as both a disturbing parable of totalitarian oppression and a perversely entertaining black comedy.

I've seen this a couple of days ago in a tribute to Karel Kachyna who died recently. It is simply amazing. A well connected party/government (same thing) aparatchik and wife get driven back to their villa from a state reception to find their keys missing, house unlocked, without electricity, working telephone. They are being snippy with each other to start with, but when the man starts getting a little paranoid about the situation and starts getting little flashbacks from the reception (his immediate boss - a minister - and several colleagues are not present there, some ppl express mild suprise he is there himself, he is obviously not privy to certain hush-hush information, their chaffeur is missing and the place is full of "cliftons" i.e. secret police (get me a salmon, that's the red thing:)) they both really deteriorate into panic, accusssations, dragging long-forgotten things into open... The point is they know they are being listened to, but their safe haven are the toilets, the bathroom and the kitchen where the bugging devices are not ordinarily placed... but not for long I cannot imagine how did Mr. K imagine this thing would be released ever. It's a miracle it only got shelved and can remind us nowadays how bad it really was...It is one of the most thruthfull portrayals of uncertanities of love and life back then

This is an outstanding film, even by the standards of the Czech New Wave and a hundred times better that The Lives of Others which covers similar ground and won much acclaim and the Oscar for Foreign Film- which just confirms that the process of critical evaluation and film recognition is grossly unfair. The only reason Ucho is not on any Best Film lists is because is was made in the wrong place at the wrong time. In fact I am also baffled that it every got made at all- I see how it got banned, but how did anyone get the studio to make it?

So what makes the film outstanding?...well everything really: Like all the Czech films of this period, it is great in every department.

Very good photography cutting from the pitch black house (shot entirely by candlight- no mean feat technically) to the crossly overlit party. At the party, there is a lot of virtuosic hand held camera and wide angle point of view shots as the man slips in uncut sequence from intense gossip huddle to gossip huddle. These shots alone are remarkable.

Acting- the core of the film is the disintegrating relationship between the man and his alcoholic wife – it's like Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff but with the added edge that every accusation she makes of him is overheard and potentially going to destroy them. It's very well acted.

Music and sound- typically of Czech films, a minimalist modern score with a very skillful post dub sound edit and mix

Script- beautifully nuanced...maybe drags a little in the middle, but it takes on a huge challenge and it does it very well