The Loves of a Blonde [Lásky jedné plavovlásky] [A Blonde in Love] **** (1965, Hana Brejchová, Vladimír Pucholt, Vladimír Mensík) – Classic Movie Review 6922

Co-writer/ director Milos Forman’s delightful, fresh and funny 1965 Oscar-nominated Czechoslovak witty comedy tells the story of a pretty young woman called Andula (Hana Brejchová), a shoe factory worker in her fading factory small town in rural provincial Czechoslovakia.

Andula’s factory supervisor organizes a big mixer dance for the largely female workforce and the all-male soldiers when the army holds military manoeuvres near her home town. Andula meets and has a one-night stand with an attractive young man who plays in the dance band, a visiting jazz piano-player (Vladimír Pucholt), but falls hopelessly for him and then follows him to Prague, where she causes quite a stir with his displeased parents.

Forman pokes good-humoured fun at his characters and situations, with pointed hints of critiques of Czechoslovak social and political conditions, and imbues his film with the precious air of truth and life, with the help of appealing performances. He bases his story on an incident from his own life and films on location in a small Czech town with a shoe factory to re-create the look and feel of a real life, using a mostly amateur cast, much improvised dialogue and documentary-style techniques.

Hana Brejchová’s first film role.

It was the 18-year-old Hana Brejchová’s first film role, earning her third place in the Best Actress category at the Venice Film Festival. It was Oscar and Golden Globe nominated as Best Foreign Language Film. Along with Forman’s 1967 The Firemen’s Ball, it is one of the most significant examples of the Czech New Wave film movement.

Zruč nad Sázavou was the location for much of the filming of A Blonde in Love.

Much of the film was shot in Zruč nad Sázavou [Zruc-upon-Sazava]. Forman recalled: ‘I remember those few months in Zruc-upon-Sazava as some of my sunniest days in the movie business. We had all the time we needed. We played billiards. We choked on laughter watching Pucholt fight his parents in the narrow double bed.’

Also in the cast are Vladimír Mensík, Joseph Sebánek, Milada Jezková, Jirí Hrubý, Ivan Kheil and Josef Kolb.

A Blonde in Love, also known as Lásky jedné plavovlásky (original title) and Loves of a Blonde (US), is directed by Milos Forman, runs 90 minutes, is produced by Filmové studio Barrandov, is written by Milos Forman, Jaroslav Papousek and Ivan Passer, is produced by Doro Vlado Hreljanović Rudolf Hájek, and is shot in black and white by Miroslav Ondricek, and scored by Evžen Illín.

RIP Miloš Forman (18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018), Oscar-winning director of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6922

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