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The Firemen's Ball

Original title: Horí, má panenko
  • 19671967
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 13m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
11K
YOUR RATING
The Firemen's Ball (1967)
ComedyDrama
A volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.A volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.A volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
11K
YOUR RATING
    • Milos Forman
  • Writers
    • Milos Forman(screenplay)
    • Jaroslav Papousek(screenplay)
    • Ivan Passer(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Jan Vostrcil
    • Josef Sebánek
    • Josef Valnoha
    • Milos Forman
  • Writers
    • Milos Forman(screenplay)
    • Jaroslav Papousek(screenplay)
    • Ivan Passer(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Jan Vostrcil
    • Josef Sebánek
    • Josef Valnoha
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 49User reviews
    • 65Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar

    Photos94

    Josef Sebánek in The Firemen's Ball (1967)
    The Firemen's Ball (1967)
    The Firemen's Ball (1967)
    The Firemen's Ball (1967)
    Milos Forman directing "The Firemen's Ball" 1967 Cinema V
    The Firemen's Ball (1967)
    The Firemen's Ball (1967)
    The Firemen's Ball (1967)
    The Firemen's Ball (1967)
    The Firemen's Ball (1967)
    The Firemen's Ball (1967)
    The Firemen's Ball (1967)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jan Vostrcil
    Jan Vostrcil
    • Predseda plesového výboru
    Josef Sebánek
    Josef Sebánek
    • Clen plesového výboru
    Josef Valnoha
    • Clen plesového výboru
    Frantisek Debelka
    Frantisek Debelka
    • Clen plesového výboru
    Josef Rehorek
    • Clen plesového výboru
    Vratislav Cermák
    • Clen plesového výboru
    Jan Stöckl
    Jan Stöckl
    • Retired Fire Chief
    Václav Novotný
    • Clen plesového výboru
    Frantisek Reinstein
    • Clen plesového výboru
    Frantisek Paska
    • Clen plesového výboru
    Ladislav Adam
    • Clen plesového výboru
    Josef Kolb
    Josef Kolb
    • Josef
    Stanislav Holubec
    • Karel
    Frantisek Svet
    Frantisek Svet
    • deda Havelka
    Josef Kutálek
    • Ludva
    Antonín Blazejovský
    • Standa
    Alena Kvetová
    • Ruzenka
    Hana Hanusová
    • Jarka
      • Milos Forman
    • Writers
      • Milos Forman(screenplay)
      • Jaroslav Papousek(screenplay)
      • Ivan Passer(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In spite of many claims the film was banned in Czechoslovakia by the communists in power at the time, it was not. It actually sold over 750,000 tickets in the country and was shown on state-controlled television in 1969.
    • Quotes

      Ball Emcee: Attention please! Attention please! I ask all the chosen candidates for the beauty contest, all these comrades, should come to the room behind the bar. I repeat: behind the bar!

    • Alternate versions
      In the United States, this film was shown in both subtitled and English-dubbed versions.
    • Connections
      Edited into CzechMate: In Search of Jirí Menzel (2018)
    • Soundtracks
      From Me to you
      (uncredited)

      Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

      Played by the band at the ball

    User reviews49

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    a jewel behind the Iron Curtain
    'The Firemen's Ball' (the Czech title is 'Horí, má panenko' - 'Fire, my doll!'), the last film made in Czechoslovakia by Milos Forman in 1967, before the 'spring of Prague' and the exile that moved his career to the West, is in my opinion not only his best film and the best film of the talented and courageous Czechoslovak film schools of the 1960s, but also, allegedly, the best film made in the communist countries behind of the Iron Curtain. It is a symbolic film, a precious jewel that in only 70 minutes concentrates sarcasm and the absurd, social and political criticism on the edge of the permissible under the conditions of censorship, and the refusal of the film mekers to be reduced to silence.

    Somewhere in the socialist Czechoslovakia, the firemen committee organizes a ball in honor of the 86th birthday of their former chief. Birthday 85th had been omitted, and in the meantime the veteran of the guild has been detected with cancer, though he doesn't know it. The celebration is being prepared according to all the rules of this kind of activity, with a raffle from which the objects are stolen, first the ones of value and the consumables, then the smaller ones, finally everything disappears. A beauty contest is organized in which the young women are judged by their physical qualities, being are enlisted some on the basis of relationships, some on the basis of misogynistic criteria. Formalism and propaganda language, inefficiency and ineptitude of bureaucratic systems meet in a comedy of the absurd. Some of the satirized failures are systemic, others belong to human nature and its eternal morals and weaknesses. In one form or another the script of this film could have been written by Moliere or by Ionesco.

    Forman's film is a concentrate of sarcastic satire. Each of the characters has his or her role in the story and his or her distinct personality, even if present on the screen for only a few seconds. The pace is marked by the choreography of the movement of the characters in the dance scenes in sync with the movements of the camera and by the soundtrack, in which the ball orchestra plays loud music. Laughter sometimes turns into a shout of pain, and the two final scenes are symbolic and at the same time of an irresistible black comic. Comedy of morals meets political cinema in this unique film. Seen today from a historical perspective, it can be said that 'The Firemen's Ball' describes all the reasons (bureaucracy, propaganda, corruption) that have led to the collapse of the structure of the communist states but is also a reflection upon human nature that transcends political systems and upheavals.
    helpful•7
    1
    • dromasca
    • Mar 21, 2020

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 29, 1968 (United States)
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Italy
      • Czech
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Restaurace Strelnice, Vrchlabí, Czech Republic
    • Production companies
      • Carlo Ponti Cinematografica
      • Filmové studio Barrandov
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 13 minutes
      • Mono

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