The Firemen's Ball
| Hoří, má panenko! (The Fireman's Ball) |
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Theatrical release poster by Saul Bass
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| Directed by | Miloš Forman |
| Produced by | Rudolf Hájek |
| Written by |
Miloš Forman Ivan Passer Jaroslav Papoušek |
| Starring | Jan Vostrčil |
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Release date
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Running time
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71 minutes |
| Country | Czechoslovakia |
| Language | Czech |
| Budget | $65,000 |
The Fireman's Ball (or The Firemen's Ball, Czech: Hoří, má panenko) is a 1967 comedy film directed by Miloš Forman. It is set at the annual ball of a small town's volunteer fire department, and the plot portrays the series of disasters that occur during the evening. The film uses few professional actors – the firemen portrayed are primarily played by the firemen of the small town where it was filmed. In its portrayal of the prevailing corruption of the local community, and the collapse even of well-intentioned plans, the film has widely been interpreted as a satire on the East European Communist system, and it was "banned forever" in Czechoslovakia following the Soviet invasion of 1968.
The Fireman's Ball was the last film Forman made in his native Czechoslovakia before going into exile. It is also the first film he shot in color, and a milestone of the Czechoslovak New Wave.
The volunteer fire department in a small Czechoslovak town decides to organize a ball in a townhall with raffle and a beauty pageant. The firefighters also plan to present a small ceremonial fire axe as the birthday gift to their retired chairman who has cancer (although they believe he may not know of it).
During the ball, three of the members of the firefighter's committee look for eight candidates for the beauty contest, but they have difficulty finding enough of them. A man continues to buy drinks for the committee members to persuade them to include his overweight daughter among the candidates.
During the ball the raffle prizes start to disappear from the table, fine consumables first. Josef, one of the firefighters, knows the prizes have been stolen, but is unable to recover them, and even finds out that his wife is involved in the theft.
After much trouble, enough candidates for the beauty contest are found, and they are told that the winner will present a gift to their honorary chairman after the end of the contest. However, when the contest begins, the girls decide not to participate and lock themselves in the bathroom. Consequently, the crowd uses force to draw the replacement candidates to the stage.
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Wikipedia