What do you think?
Rate this book
The Czechoslovak New Wave
"The Czechoslovak New Wave" was originally published in 1985 and was quickly established as the world's leading authoritative English-language text. A study of the most significant movement in post-war Central and East European cinemas, it examines the origins of a movement against the political and cultural developments of the 1960s leading to the Prague Spring of 1968. Peter Hames also summarizes key aspects of Czech and Slovak histories between the wars and in the 1940s and 1950s. Directors discussed include Milos Forman, Jan Svankmajer, Věra Chytilová, Jiri Menzel, Jan Nemec.
288 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1985
8 people are currently reading
222 people want to read
About the author
Peter Hames
12 books3 followersPeter Hames is Honorary Research Associate in Film and Media Studies at Staffordshire University. His books include The Czechoslovak New WaveDark Alchemy: The FIlms of Jan Svankmajer.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 8, 2010
Tracked down because I am completely fascinate/obsessed.
Hames is probably the foremost English-language authority on this subject, and he is extremely knowledgeable, but he focuses largely on the sociopolitcal context and descriptions of the technical, thematic, and stylistic developments of each film. Given the extreme individuality of this movement, someone really needs to write version of this story following the personal narratives of those involved, of what they were doing and how. Of their collaboration, their days as students at FAMU, working together on their earliest films, of how they personally responded to the tumultuous political times they lived through. I want their own words, not a second-hand extrapolation of their feelings and intentions from a Brit who has seen their films. Preferably while virtually all the foremost players (mostly born in the 30s) are still alive and largely still working...
Who speaks Czech and wants to embark on a long project?
Hames is probably the foremost English-language authority on this subject, and he is extremely knowledgeable, but he focuses largely on the sociopolitcal context and descriptions of the technical, thematic, and stylistic developments of each film. Given the extreme individuality of this movement, someone really needs to write version of this story following the personal narratives of those involved, of what they were doing and how. Of their collaboration, their days as students at FAMU, working together on their earliest films, of how they personally responded to the tumultuous political times they lived through. I want their own words, not a second-hand extrapolation of their feelings and intentions from a Brit who has seen their films. Preferably while virtually all the foremost players (mostly born in the 30s) are still alive and largely still working...
Who speaks Czech and wants to embark on a long project?
January 27, 2019
Excellent book for film fans who loves the Czechoslovak New Wave of the 1960s! I've loved Slovak and Czech cinemas for many years, and especially their New Wave together (many English-centric people don't realize what great film experiences they are misssing, sadly!), so have long wanted to read this particular book. I enjoyed reading this in a slow pace, while re-watching and watching for the first time most of the titles the author mentions. Will be coming back to this again in the future, for sure.
Read
July 17, 2024Disappointing. For a topic that I have such interest in, this was such a slog to get through. Not paced well at all and too much information to digest all at once. Had it been printed differently (the font in this version was super tiny), maybe I would’ve had a solid time reading it, but I had to force myself to get back into it over the last two months to finally get to the end. Maybe I’ll reread one day if I have the time.
February 7, 2018
Un testo ancor oggi fondamentale per conoscere e capire la grande stagione del cinema della Primavera di Praga
August 23, 2015
Well-written and well-researched. On;y thing is, without the means to view all the films he talks about there's no way to judge his reviews and critiques. I think much of his writing on the obscure films I'll never be able to see will get forgotten. Hames certainly makes me wish more of these films were available to the greater public.
September 5, 2007
Interesting historical/biographical information about a slew of interesting films, if you can get past the obligatory marxist post-grad writing style that is inescapable in pretty much all academic film writing outside of Paglia.
October 9, 2012
dipping in and out so i'm counting this as read and it's dead informative and cute, i want more pictures but i'm a baby like that
November 24, 2013
A highly readable overview of an extraordinary period in film history.
December 13, 2013
Hames' whistle-stop tour of the Czech New Wave is well researched but his close readings are tame as hell
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews