In one of the great anthology films, five leading lights of the burgeoning Czechoslovak New Wave – a dream line-up of Jiří Menzel, Jan Němec, Evald Schorm, Věra Chytilová, and Jaromil Jireš – each adapted a story from the debut publication of Bohumil Hrabal, the most revered Czech writer of his generation.

Each found cinematic analogues for Hrabal’s iconoclastic adoption of vernacular language, celebrations of idiosyncrasy, and affinity for the absurd, as shot by Jaroslav Kučera, the talismanic cinematographer of the New Wave. Hrabal enjoys a cameo in each segment, while Menzel’s is his first of many collaborations with the author.

CaSFFA is delighted to be presenting Pearls of the Deep in partnership with the Melbourne Cinémathèque. Admission will be via Cinémathèque membership.

Discover more from author Bohumil Hrabal at Readings.