Barnabáš Kos, a meek and modest triangle-player in a state orchestra finds himself unfathomably promoted to Musical Director. Now drunk with power, the once timid Kos turns into a poised, commanding peacock and seeks to transform the orchestra to suit his own agenda and inflated vision...
Peter Solan (Before Tonight is Over) crafts an absurdist, darkly funny Kafkaesque satire of a corrupt system that rewards mediocrity and breeds petty dictatorship. Openly criticising the practices of socialist Czechoslovakia at the time, its wry exposure of hypocrisy, sycophancy and the corrupting influence of power remains, unsurprisingly, fresh and relevant even today.
The Barnabáš Kos Case is presented from a new 2K restoration by the Slovak Film Institute. Our region-free Blu-ray also includes a selection of archival short films, including Peter Solan's powerful 1974 film Nemecka - plus a booklet with new writing on the film by Czechoslovak cinema expert Jonathan Owen and filmmaker Peter Strickland.
• The Barnabáš Kos Case (Prípad Barnabáš Kos, 1964) presented from a new 2K restoration by the Slovak Film Institute.
• Invincibility of Absurdity: An introduction to the film by Rastislav Steranka, Director of National Cinematographic Centre, Slovak Film Institute.
• Nemecká (1974): Peter Solan's powerful documentary short, with original music by Zdeněk Liška.
• Promotion (Postup, 1968): A short film by the renowned Slovak animator and filmmaker Viktor Kubal.
• Portrait: Jarmila Košťová (1969): A short film on the famous Slovak actor.
• 32-page booklet with new writing on the film by author Jonathan Owen and filmmaker Peter Strickland.
• New English subtitle translation.
• Region Free (A/B/C) Blu-ray.
Directed by Peter Solan
Screenplay by Peter Karvaš, Albert Marenčín, Peter Solan
Based on the story 'The Rise and Fall of Barnabáš Kos' ('Vzostup a pád Barnabáša Kosa')
by Peter Karvaš
Director of photography - Tibor Biath
Editor - Maximilián Remeň
Music - Pavol Šimai
Production design - Ivan Vaníček
Costume design - Ferdinand Konček
Main Cast
Josef Kemr - Barnabáš Kos
Jarmila Košťová - Julka
Ján Bzdúch - Greguš
Milivoj Uzelac - Conductor Ruman
Josef Bartl - Mečík
Hana Sarvašová - Gregusová
Viliam Polónyi - Gajdoš
Eduard Grečner - Soviar
Jaroslav Rozsíval - Comrade Vavro
Peter Solan's acclaimed film Before Tonight is Over and
other gems of Slovak, Czech and international cinema
are also available on Second Run
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“Slovak director Solan and his collaborators gave the film both the verve of the Czech New Wave and the economy of classical Hollywood cinema. With its satire of art in the grip of ignorant masters, Barnabáš has bite beyond the travesties of the socialist state”
Gabriel M Paletz, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA)
“Set in the 1960s, Peter Solan’s stylish, well shot (by cinematographer Tibor Biath) film is a satirical yet scathing view of society gone mad with bureaucracy”
ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image)
“A film that not only entertains but also provides insight into the societal issues of its time, making it a notable entry in the history of Czech and Slovak cinema” CzechMovie
“In this bitingly satirical film Peter Solan, a continuous source of trouble for the film functionaries of the socialist Slovakia, tackles an evergreen topic — the corruptive effects of power. The Orchestra serves here as a microcosm that grotesquely reflects the absurd and tragicomic mechanisms of the paranoid apparatus of power” Letterboxd
“Like later in Fellini's 'Orchestra Rehearsal' the orchestra and its conductors stand for the society's subsumption into synchronized compliance. Solan injects fine moments of symbolism when, for example, Kos
(extraordinary in Kos' mediocrity and gullibility, Josef Kemr) is upgraded, shot against the background of a colossal statue. Equally, the triangle acquires several textures of meaning turned into a symbol of Kos' tango with power. A film abundant in performative parodies, wittily orchestrated” EEFB
