Hommage to Vojtěch Jasný: When the Cat Comes

A Special Jury Prize winner at Cannes in 1963, The Cassandra Cat is an allegorical fable in which life in a small town is turned upside down with the arrival of a magician and his cat. Everyone’s true character is revealed through the cat’s gaze and recognized for who they truly are in visually stunning musical scenes. A provocative and beautifully executed fantasy with great camerawork, this film was seen as an unacceptable take on the shortcomings of communist society after the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and banned.

Vojtěch Jasný, Czechoslovakia 1963, 101 mins, subtitles
With Jan Werich, Emília Vášáryová, Vlastimil Brodský and Jiří Sovák

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