If you're only familiar with Milos Forman through his latter-day works, such as the People vs. Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon, Amadeus, or even Cuckoo's Nest, you should probably do yourself a favor and seek out his earlier films made in his native Czechoslovakia. Made during that country's years as a Soviet satellite, The Firemen's Ball can be seen as an underhanded commentary on the shambles of communist rule but more importantly it can be seen as an exploration of human foibles.

Abiding by Murphy's Law, apparently, everything that can go wrong does go wrong with the Firemen's Ball, planned to celebrate the retired fire chief who is now dying. Prizes are stolen and ugly girls become contestants in a beauty pageant. It's all very funny and everyone is quite silly, but the film doesn't lack empathy. Forman sympathizes with his characters because he knows that they're just like the rest of us--bumbling through life causing and becoming affected by minor catastrophes.

As I said, it's very funny but not without a tinge of melancholy, which primarily emanates from the old chief. The film recognizes that, yes, these mishaps are funny but sad too--sad because this is the only send-off the old man is likely to receive and sad because he doesn't necessarily want the send off. The film is an amazing amalgamation of pathos and humor, quite like some of Woody Allen's more inspired comedy-dramas (Manhattan comes to mind).

This is whimsical film-making at its best and a wonderful, if too short, film. Forman has attempted to capture the same sense of silliness, spontaneity, and joy in his American films, but they come up somewhat lacking. Along with Loves of a Blonde, this is likely his crowning achievement and for what posterity should remember him. From my perspective, it's also the film most like Forman himself. About six years ago, I met him at a film festival in upstate New York. He shuffled into a panel discussion with Michael Ondaatje, Paul Schrader, and Russell Banks about fifteen minutes late. Forman wore sweatpants and looked exhausted, yet he was the liveliest and most amusing member of that panel--you could see pieces of Tom Hulce's performance in Amadeus or Nicholson's performance in Cuckoo's Nest there. Having seen The Firemen's Ball, I know what I actually was seeing was this film in the flesh.

To see any film for the first time some 30 or 40 years after its initial release is to attempt the impossible, to view it through eyes not in synch with the prevailing climate be it political, social or whatever and when a given film is laced liberally with satire and/or social comment it becomes that much more difficult to view it objectively. In the hands of a master like for example Billy Wilder (his script 'Ninotchka' is still a joy today despite its barbed topicality) the finished product transcends its immediate targets and survives as entertainment and so it is here. For the last film he made on his home turf Forman has fashioned a bauble that spins around a tribute to a retired fire chief and reflected in the bauble are the mores of Czech life at the time. The dinner is destined for disaster from minute One when even a prologue is fraught with problems. As the evening progresses and one by one the raffle prizes disappear - not least into the pockets of those ostensibly guarding them - and each would-be contestant in the Beauty Contest turns out to be less prepossessing than the last, so does the laughter content because the humor is based on keen observation and when finally and in circumstances less grandiose than the organisers envisaged the presentation is made it seems only fitting that the handsome case housing the ceremonial fire axe proves to be empty. A very charming and entertaining film.