The Firemen's Ball

The Firemen’s Ball is my favourite of Forman's Czech films from the 1960s, and from time to time I like returning to it, with its exceptionally curious choice of a beauty queen (well - actually just a selection of candidates) and the bizarre prizes of the raffle slowly disappearing, while a feeling of boundless (but very desirable) awkwardness grows to unprecedented proportions during the screening. The ubiquitous humorous touch is transformed into a dense, even poignant feeling at the end – during the cottage fire I felt an unpleasant chill down my spine. Now a cult classic of its genre, it has an exquisitely timeless atmosphere. (20/11/2023)

A portrait of Czech (at its core apparently international) smallness, fitted on a small canvas of a Firemen's ball. Excellent acting performances, convincing atmosphere, humor that makes you laugh, but then you get surprised by the strange chill... The final dialogue about those who steal and those who do not steal should be shown as the equivalent of the national anthem of the Czech Republic. Forman used the same means as in A Blonde in Love, Ondříček’s excellent documentary camera, a brass band background, and dialogues as if randomly watched in medias res. The gags are even sharper and more refined than in the previous film, some of which make one laugh, whilst others make your smile freeze. As Vladislav Vančura used to say: humor is not laughing, but rather knowing better. And after watching The Firemen's Ball, the viewer truly knows better and it is not joyful at all. Unfortunately, the film does not lose its topicality. On the contrary. (09/02/2004)

A well deserved great cult-classic, whose humour will be relevant for a long time thanks to the perfectly cast non-actors. The scene with the selection of the beauty queen in particular is simply flawless, especially the expression of Šebánek and co. after the arrival of all the girls' "jewels". Miloš Forman had it in the bag from the beginning of his career, he knew what to expect from a film and what to do about it, and this funny and nostalgic movie is a clear proof of that. (26/08/2012)

A brilliant comedy that is more chilling than funny. Under the commies, every critical film was said to hold up a mirror, and that is very accurate for this film. The fire brigades protested, but it's not about them at all, this film has a much deeper message. The scene with the old man at his burning house is one of the saddest I've ever seen. (13/04/2003)

It's actually a sad movie about how stupid and hypocritical people are. I have to say, except for a few scenes, I wasn't amused, more like I wanted to cry when I saw it. The fact that there are non-actors, the dialogue is life-like, and the director is Milos Forman did nothing for me. If you hate people for a while after watching it, I hope you won't be surprised. (01/02/2010)