The Barnabáš Kos Case
Prime Czech New Wave, The Barnabáš Kos Case (Prípad Barnabáš Kos) is a satire about a system that cannot recognise it’s gone wrong and cannot autocorrect because there are no mechanisms – a free press, for instance – to point out failure. Instead of fixing things, in its paranoia it doubles down on its decision. This, the detailing of the unhealthy doubling down, is one of the key reasons why director Peter Solan’s film deserves to be seen. Flying beneath the political radar, its story is superficially about a lowly triangle player who is quite by accident made into the musical director of the orchestra he plays in. At first the pathologically meek … Read more