Black Peter [Czechoslovakia 1964]

Černý Petr
Director: M. Forman
Cinematographer: J. Němeček

A fairly superficial comedy about generational conflict and life as a teenager in 1960s Czechoslovakia. It is mainly of interest because of its depiction of the troubles facing a teenager that seem to parallel those in common depictions of teenage life in the West in the 1960s.

As in Family Nest, the film is punctuated by scenes of generational conflict which take place around the family dinner table, and in which the young protagonist is confronted by the old, rigid patriarch. In both the patriarch is also long-winded and likes to give speeches, is incapable of understanding the young generation, and is always assuming the worst of them. The similarities are striking. The obvious difference in these scenes is the tone; in this film, they are comedic, while in the other, they are most certainly not.

The protagonist, a teenager, seems to be living in a youth culture quite similar to the West in the 1960s. New kinds of music, including rock and roll, new kinds of dance, clothes, etc. Most interestingly, while his parents' generation seem to have the idea that one must find a role in life early on, he and his peers are only interested in being teenagers--sexual exploration, getting drunk, and fooling around. Perhaps this is just the inevitable result of a generation growing up in relative affluence following a generation that grew up in poverty; perhaps it is also that the younger generation must rebel completely rather than take on some of the older generation's wisdom because the older generation is so unable to speak to the young on their own terms.

There are a couple of little jabs at socialism in the movie. At one point, the shop where Petr works receives some paintings to hang on the wall and the manager says 'Great, they send us paintings! Meanwhile our toilet is leaking, our step ladder is broken, and our fan hasn't worked for years'. Nevertheless, the shop is fully stocked and people are clearly depicted as enjoying a fairly high material standard of living. Again this is a parallel with the West and maybe a partial explanation for the intergenerational conflict.

Apparently it has been speculated that this film is some kind of attack on the political system, but I do not think so. Not only has Forman never claimed this, but it appears to me to be simply a depiction of what is happening in the society, possibly with wider implications but mostly literal. The older generation--and perhaps this includes those with older Communist ideas--have strict ideas for what they want the younger generation to do; the younger generation simply want to explore and not feel so much pressure. If we looked hard we could find a political metaphor, even a geopolitical one involving Czechoslovakia and the Warsaw Pact; but I think this is just stretching it too far.

This movie is basically a simple comedy, witty at times, and interesting for the parallels with the West at the time.