Desire

A film poem featuring spring, summer, autumn and winter in four separate stories in which the main characters represent the cycle of human life from birth to death. A young boy awaits the birth of his baby sister in the spring while summer is the time for first teenage love and autumn brings the story of a farmer opposing the pressure of collectivisation. The closure comes with winter as an old woman dies during her daughter-in-law’s pregnancy. Full of symbolism and poetic beauty, Desire received an award at the 1959 Cannes International Film Festival.

Dir. Vojtěch Jasný, Czechoslovakia 1958, 90 mins, subtitles
With Vlastimil Brodský, Jana Brejchová, Jiří Vala and Otto Šimánek

Made in Prague: Hommage to Vojtěch Jasný
Celebrating the 90th birthday and achievements of an outstanding Czech filmmaker who has had a profound influence on films like Edgar Reitz's Heimat and Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, the season pays a tribute to his work. Starting with a triple bill of his three Cannes Film Festival winners at the Regent Street Cinema, it presents Jasný’s key films from his 50+ portfolio shot in Czechoslovakia, Austria, West Germany, USA and Canada, demonstrating the width and diversity of his filmmaking and his distinctive auteur flavour, poetic style and spiritual values.

Part of Made in Prague Film Festival, 3 – 29 November 2015
czechcentre.org.uk