Eden and After

Eden and After 1970

6.13

A group of French students are drawn into the psychological and sexual games of a mysterious man called Duchemin. Once they sample his "fear powder" the students experience a series of hallucinations.

1970

The Man Who Lies

The Man Who Lies 1968

6.67

A man may or may not have betrayed a resistance fighter during World War II. He has supposedly been shot down by the Nazis and wanders into town. Mourning the death of an unseen comrade, he is taken in by the family of the dead rebel. He engages in a superfluous affair and witnesses the lesbian relationship between the man's sister and a female servant. When passions subside, the family has doubts about the reliability of the man's story.

1968

Salt & Gold

Salt & Gold 1983

6.30

A fairy-tale about the power of love. The old king Pravoslav feels it is time to entrust the rule over his kingdom to one of his three daughters - the one that loves him the most. The youngest, Maruška, fails her father's expectations about proving how deep her love him is. He misunderstands her and she is made to leave the castle. She faces many dangers on the way to her loved one, the Salt Prince.

1983

Dragon's Return

Dragon's Return 1968

7.21

This is a ballad about love, hate, and a search for a way out of loneliness. It is a dramatic story about the strange potter, Martin Leaps, nicknamed Dragon, who is suspected by the villagers as the cause of natural disasters. He lost his wife, his home, and his freedom due to false accusations. After years he returns to his native village. Putting his own life to risk, he saves a herd of sheep from a forest fire in the hills. But not even this heroic deed helps him to win back the friendship of the locals.

1968

322

322 1970

5.70

A story of a man threatened by a fatal illness evaluating his life (the number 322 in the film title stands for the diagnosis of one kind of cancer). He understands his illness as a form of punishment for his cruel deeds in the 1950s. In the face of reality and his efforts to cleanse himself he hits a barrier of indifference, lack of interest, and individual and collective selfishness. He has to find his own reconciliation with his illness and his past and present life.

1970

Birds, Orphans and Fools

Birds, Orphans and Fools 1969

7.19

In the aftermath of war, two men and a woman begin acting more like children than adults, leading to tragedy.

1969

The Last Witch

The Last Witch 1957

7.50

This dramatic story is situated in the town of Trnava of the 18th century. Painter Peter paints an altar-piece of the Martyrdom of St. Juliet and his model is a young girl. This is much disliked by the clergy who unjustly accuse the girl of witchcraft. She is saved from being burnt at a stake by the students of the Trnava University.

1957

The Boxer and Death

The Boxer and Death 1963

6.50

Concentration camp commander Kraft finds out that prisoner Kominek is a former professional boxer. Overnight, the prisoner is made Kraft's exercise partner and unwillingly rises to a privileged position at the camp. His anger over the death of his friend and co-prisoner leads to open revolt. The film brings a new view of human degradation during fascism by a tragic story of one man whose only chance for survival is to accept the rules of an unequal game.

1963

The Barnabás Kos Case

The Barnabás Kos Case 1965

6.00

In this bitingly satirical film Peter Slovan, a continuous source of trouble for the film functionaries of the socialist Slovakia, tackles an evergreen topic – the corruptive effects of power. Barnabáš Kos, a triangle player at a symphonic orchestra, is suddenly promoted to serve as the head of the said institution, even though both he and his superiors deem him completely unfit for the task. Encouraged in equal parts by this unexpected recognition and the servile praise of his colleagues, Kos’s modesty starts to gradually vanish. The erstwhile bashful and aloof percussionist quickly becomes aware of the advantages of his new office, and begins to realise his increasingly ludicrous artistic ambitions. Ultimately, the submissive marionette turns into a source of public humiliation, and his astonishing career finds an abrupt end. Orchestra serves here as a microcosm that grotesquely reflects the absurd and tragicomic mechanisms of the paranoid apparatus of power.

1965

Field Lilies

Field Lilies 1973

8.30

Two repatriated soldiers search for stability and love when they return home after the First World War.

1973

Three Daughters

Three Daughters 1968

7.20

A classical ballad motif about an aging father and his three daughters is quite unusually here set against the backdrop of Czechoslovakia of the 1950s. After having been expropriated, the former landowner Majda seeks refuge with his three daughters whom he had sent to a convent a long time ago. But only the youngest one is able to forgive him and she is willing to take care of him despite the threat of expulsion from the order.

1968

Before Tonight Is Over

Before Tonight Is Over 1966

5.30

Two female clerks using up their savings to enjoy a few days of carefree life, two plumbers looking for an erotic adventure, a building contractor determined to drink away all wages of his workers and a former major who became an alcoholic due to political persecution — these people meet in a ski resort bar somewhere in the High Tatras. During one night they gradually reveal their unfulfilled dreams, illusions and disappointments of ”average" people of those times.

1966

Interrupted Song

Interrupted Song 1960

3.20

Young couple separated by World War 2, dream of being reunited years later.

1960

Jánošík

Jánošík 1963

7.70

This film is one of the most popular pictures of Slovak cinema and relates the story about the legendary folk hero and brigand Juro Jánošík [1688-1713] and the social situation in Slovakia of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The first part talks about Jánošík's childhood, studies and return to his native village. In the second part Jánošík leaves for the hills, where he organizes his band of brigands and starts an anti-feudal resistance. The film concludes with Jánošík's execution.

1963

Celebration in the Botanical Garden

Celebration in the Botanical Garden 1969

6.00

One of the lead characters is Maria, an inn keeper; always a bride but never a wife. She meets the newcomer Pierre, who disturbs the peace of the small village and teaches the locals how to enjoy life. The film is full of fireworks of lovely colours, and a warm feeling. It is like a carousel of humour and human situations that carry us away, from the very first frame to the unexpected ending, making the viewer laugh gaily. Using a mosaic approach to the traditional narrative line, the film director creates a picture of fairly anarchic glee. “Celebration in the Botanical Garden” is a world of fantasy, full of summer fun, good humour and delight. E. Havetta´s debut was inspired by naïve art, French impressionism, and silent slap-stick as well as Western Slovakian folk traditions.

1969

Earthly Honor

Earthly Honor 1958

6.00

Historical satire from the first half of the 19th century, which captures the decay and decline of the landed estate. The impoverished peasants still seem to adhere to the old principles of peasant honor and glory, but the elections will show how easy it is to buy knightly qualities.

1958

Dialogue 20-40-60

Dialogue 20-40-60 1968

5.30

"Using the same, three times repeating dialogue – dramatic conversation between man and woman – Jerzy Skolimowski from Poland, Slovak director Peter Solan and Czech director Zbynìk Brynych shot three different stories. The result was an extraordinary experiment in the world cinema, which we can call an insight in the relationships of men and women of different age groups, an analysis of love and marriage of those who are at the beginning, in the middle or going towards the end of their life."

1968

Brothers

Brothers 1962

1

A bricklayer, Jozef Haviar, decides to live with his family on the small farm of his father through the difficult years of the economic crisis. But on his return to his father's house he gets into a conflict with his brother. The life-and-death conflict between the two brothers documents the difficult situation of Slovak country life in the 1930s, the time of economic depression.

1962