Syllabus
Programm 5.10.
Introduction 12.10.
Romeo and Juliet and the Darkness (Romeo, Julie a tma, directed by Jiří Weiss, 1959)
Jan Otčenášek: Romeo and Juliet and the Darkness (Romeo, Julie a tma) 19.10.
Transport from Paradise (Transport z ráje, directed by Zbyněk Brynych, 1962)
Arnošt Lustig: Night and Hope (Noc a naděje) 26.10.
Diamonds of the Night (Démanty noci, directed by Jan Němec, 1964)
Arnošt Lustig: Darkness Casts No Shadow (Tma nemá stín) 2.11.
And the Fifth Horseman is Fear (…a pátý Jezdec je Strach, directed by Zbyněk Brynych, 1965)
Hana Bělohradská: Bez krásy, bez límce 9.11.
The Shop on Main Street (Obchod na korze, directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos, 1965)
Ladislav Grosman: The Shop on Main Street (Obchod na korze) 16.11.
The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol, directed by Juraj Herz, 1968)
Ladislav Fuks: The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol) 23.11.
Jakob the Liar (Jakob der Lügner, directed by Frank Beyer, 1974)
Jurek Becker: Jakob the Liar (Jakob der Lügner) 30.11.
Schindler´s List (directed by Steve Spielberg, 1993)
Thomas Keneally: Schindler´s Ark (later Schindler´s List) 7.12.
The Pianist (directed by Roman Polanski, 2002)
Władysław Szpilman: The Death of the City (Śmierć miasta) 14.12.
Painted Bird (Nabarvené ptáče, directed by V áclav Marhoul, 2019)
Jerzy Kosinski: Painted Bird 4.1.
Conclusions
Annotation
In Czechoslovakia, as well as in the world, first films about the Holocaust was made in the 1940s (The Great Dictator, directed by Charlie Chaplin). Over the last eighty years, many documents and feature films or TV films have been made about the Holocaust. In Czechoslovakia, respectively in the Czech Republic, films on this topic emerged in two waves. The first wave came in the 1960s as a part of European “New Wave”. Over ten films were made during this decade, and till these days they remain one of the first-rate films of Czechoslovak cinematography. The second wave of Holocaust films arrived after the Velvet Revolution and continues till present.
Due to political reasons, the topic of Jewishness was suppressed during the Communist era (post-war anti-Semitism). On the contrary, films made after 1989 emphasize this aspect. In fact, Jewishness and the Holocaust become necessary scenery in a film portraying the topic of World War Two. Film directors also changed the focus of their films from presenting raw reality to playing with the spectator´s feelings. Films made in 1960s are psychological and they present historical truth more accurate. On the other hand, specificity of many “new” films is accentuation of violence, eroticism, and trivialization. When looking closely at all films with this topic, there can be found also significant similarities. For instance, many of these films present Jews, Jewishness and Holocaust in the form of a stereotype.
The aim of this course is to present key Czech as well as world cinematography narrating the topic of the Holocaust and to show the evolution of the narration and various types of film adaptations.