The Fireman's Ball

This ingratiating farce is perhaps the last noteworthy film of the Czech renaissance before the political crackdown forced most filmmakers, director Forman and co-screenwriter Passer included, into exile. It's a more thorough realization of the same kinds of themes that directors like Forman and Passer developed in several films in the mid-1960s: invigorating essays in everyday life. THE FIREMAN'S BALL uses a small, local event--in this case a retirement ball and a beauty contest--to examine larger social and political problems.

Promised the presentation of a ceremonial hatchet at a ball given upon his retirement, a cancer-stricken, 86-year-old retired commander...