CATCH A CLASSIC TCM Special Theme: New Waves Around the World: ‘Polish, Czech and German Waves’
TCM, beginning at 5 p.m.
Continuing the Tuesday night theme started last month, Turner Classic Movies will have two more “New Waves Around the World” evenings of films. Tonight’s lineup features New Wave films from Poland, Czechia and Germany. During the Polish New Wave, a genre that never quite caught on like in France, Polish directors broke free from the established patterns of filmmaking, making movies that examined and experimented with cinematic form.
The Czech New Wave, active in the 1960s, consisted largely of films that touched on themes of communism and were subjected to censorship, strong narrative films that expressed dark humor in opposition to previous Czech films made in the ’50s that dealt with social realism. The German New Wave lasted from 1962-82, and was heavily influenced by the French New Wave. It was a response from young German filmmakers to the stagnation of the artistic appeal of German cinema, and was founded on artistic excellence over commercial success. The films from the Polish, Czech, and German New Waves featured tonight, in order, are: the 1958 Polish drama Ashes and Diamonds (pictured), nominated at the BAFTA awards for Best Film from Any Source and for Zbigniew Cybulski as Best Actor; the 1963 Czech drama Something Different, made by Vera Chytilova, one of the only female filmmakers to participate in the Czech New Wave; the 1965 comedy/ drama Loves of a Blonde, Milos Forman’s third film made while living in his home country of Czechoslovakia, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; the 1970 surrealist fantasy horror film from Czechoslovakia Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, nominated for Best Feature at the Chicago International Film Festival; the 1966 drama Young Torless; the 1969 West German crime comedy Love Is Colder Than Death, which was filmed in black and white and won Best Performance by an Ensemble and Best Cinematography at the German Film Awards; and, finally, an early film from director Wim Wenders, the 1974 drama Alice in the Cities, which was named Best Film at the German Film Critics Association Awards. — Evan Mclean