After realizing film was her
true calling, the first lady of Czech cinema Věra Chytilová enrolled in
the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) in
1957. At the time, she was the only woman at the school and was faced with
resistance. She was pushed back, but she wanted to direct and had ambitions to
make different kinds of movies. Chytilová recalls potentially upsetting the directors at the academy when she
told them the reason she wanted to study was because she didn’t like the films
they made, feeling that they were predictable and arranged. When the Academy
wanted to throw her out, it was a major blow for her that resulted in depression
and a suicide attempt. She ultimately resisted being driven out and graduated,
in the process directing successful medium length films Ceiling (1961) (of which she also wrote) and A Bagful of Fleas (1962). A
Bagful of Fleas and her first feature length film as director Something Different (1963) both won
film critics awards.
Chytilová married cinematographer Jaroslav Kucera (Morgiana 1972); they worked well together and collaborated on The Restaurant the World (1965), Daisies (1966), and Fruit of Paradise (1970).
Daisies is Chytilová’s most popular and well-known film. It is a
staple in the Czech New Wave movement that’s a fun, technically impressive film
with an unconventional narrative about two young, disorderly female leads sticking-it-to-the-man,
with copious amounts of style and entertainment ensuing. The movie is supposed
to be a cautionary tale on the consequences of destructive behavior, but for
me, it’s one of those films you fall in love with and get hooked on.
Adrift
was
one of the last, if not the last, Czechoslovak New Wave films before the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Filming was actually interrupted by the invasion, with a
military bridge being temporarily erected at the filming site on the banks of the
Danube River. Adrift’s co-director
and co-writer (academy award winning filmmaker Ján Kadár) then fled the country and made another film in the US, The Angel Levine. After the loosening
of Soviet control in Czechoslovakia in 1969, Kadár returned, and, after getting everyone back together, filming
for Adrift resumed.
I became
interested in Adrift (or my
preferred title: A Desire Called Anada) at random while scanning for new older
foreign films to watch. One drew me in by its poster design (I know, typical)
that put me in the mood for a haunting, surreal fantasy about a water nymph. I
also saw that it was Czechoslovak, which had me recalling At the Mansion of Madness favorites Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) and Morgiana (1972). I’ve also been meaning to explore more
Czechoslovak New Wave films, especially for this site, so I kind of committed
myself to Adrift for review before
even watching it. I decided not to read anything about it and go in fresh
without knowing what it was about or if it was any good. (Yep, that’s how this
blogger sometimes picks movies). Spoiler: it’s good.
