Czechoslovakia, 1963
Length / Black Peter:
Blu-Ray (24fps): 90 minutes
DVD (25fps): 87 minutes
Length / Special features: 49 minutes
Sound /
Blu-Ray:
2.0 Dual Mono LPCM (48khz/24-bit)
Sound /
DVD: 2.0 Dual Mono
Black and white
Original aspect ratio:
1.37:1
Language: Czech
Subtitles: English
Blu-Ray: BD50
/ 1080 / 24fps / Region ABC
DVD: PAL / DVD9 / 25 fps / Region 0
Blu-Ray RRP: £19.99
DVD RRP: £12.99
Release Date: 09 July 2018
Second Run DVD 122 / SRBD 013
DVD |
Blu-Ray |
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Presented from a brand new 4K restoration of the film, Second Run presents the stunning debut feature film of the late, great Czech filmmaker Miloš Forman (A Blonde in Love, The Fireman’s Ball, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus).
A wry and provocative comedy set in 1960s Czechoslovakia, Black Peter explores the passions and confusions of teenage life. Peter is tentatively taking his first steps into the adult world; he has a new job and a new focus for his burgeoning erotic fantasies - provoking conflict with the older generation. This key work of Forman’s emerging vital talent brought to the screen something that Czechoslovak filmgoers weren’t used to: an authentic testimony about the lives of young people.
With a cast of mainly non-professional actors, Black Peter conjures up a naturalistic and witty portrait of everyday life under totalitarianism. Full of charming performances, youthful spontaneity and a rock’n’roll soundtrack, Black Peter helped launch the internationally acclaimed Czechoslovak New Wave.
Available on both Blu-Ray and DVD formats, Black Peter includes all-new special features including part one of an archival film-by-film interview with Miloš Forman, newly edited for this release with never-before-seen footage; audio commentary by film historian Michael Brooke, a filmed interview with actor Pavla Martínková and a booklet with new essay on the film by Jonathan Owen.
• Presented from a brand new 4K restoration of the film from original materials by the Czech National Film Archive.
• Life As It Is: Miloš Forman on his Czech films:
part one of an archival film-by-film interview, newly edited for this release with never-before-seen footage.
• All-new audio commentary by film historian Michael Brooke.
• New filmed interview with actor Pavla Martínková.
• 20-page booklet featuring new writing on the film by
Jonathan Owen.
• Trailer.
• New and improved English subtitle translation.
• World Premiere on Blu-ray.
• Region Free (A/B/C) Blu-ray.
• Region Free (Region '0') DVD.
Directed by Miloš Forman
Story and screenplay - Jaroslav Papoušek, Miloš Forman
Cinematography - Jan Němeček
Music - Jiří Šlitr
Editor - Miroslav Hájek
Art Director - Karel Černý
Sound - Adolf Böhm
Assistant director - Ivan Passer
Main Cast
Ladislav Jakim - Peter
Pavla Martínková-Novotná - Pavla
Jan Vostrčil - Father
Vladimír Pucholt - Čenda
Pavel Sedláček – Lada
Zdeněk Kulhánek – Zdeněk
František Kosina – Shop manager
Josef Koza – Mason
Božena Matušková – Mother
Miloš Forman's acclaimed films Audition and
A Blonde in Love are also available from Second Run.
Ivan Passer's Intimate Lighting is also available
on both DVD and Blu-ray formats.
1964 Locarno Film Festival / Winner: Grand Prize
"Simply an irresistibly wry and witty look at life's little pitfalls, full of affection for every last one of the characters" Time Out
"A timeless comedy" Newsweek
"A more profound analysis of Czechoslovak society than any yet attempted" Peter Hames
“Forman’s first movie is characterized by ease and lightness. Cultivation of the picture and economy of expression are noticeable for example in a key sequence at the Saturday dance, where a few of the story episodes intertwine with pseudo-documentary style shots"
Ivan Svitak, Film and a Period of Time, 1965
"Black Peter anticipates Forman’s subsequent 1960s output in its wryly affectionate, gently satirical character-based comedy that laughs with and never at its typically extended cast of characters who orbit around the hapless titular teenager. Indeed, the distanced yet sympathetic eye that the director casts over all his characters, the fact that he tends to watch rather than appear to engage with them, to observe from a discreet vantage point rather than becoming one with their trials and tribulations, is highly significant"
Senses of Cinema