Czechoslovakia, 1965
Length / A Blonde in Love: 82 minutes
Length / Special features: 28 mins
Sound /
2.0 Mono LPCM (48khz/24-bit)
Black and white
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Language: Czech
Subtitles: English
Blu-Ray BD50 / 1080p / 24fps / Region ABC
RRP: £19.99
Release Date: 29 July 2019
Second Run DVD 054 / SRBD 023
DVD |
Blu-Ray |
|---|
Available for the first time anywhere on Blu-ray, and presented from the stunning new 4K restoration which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, A Blonde in Love is a subtle and beautifully observed social satire that deftly balances hope and despair, and is widely celebrated as one of the great films of the 1960s.
This bittersweet romance from Miloš Forman, the multiple Oscar®-winning director of Black Peter, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus, unfolds as a sweetly seductive film but also provides a wry critique of life under totalitarianism.
Aided by Miroslav Ondříček’s sublime camerawork, and naturalistic performances, the film adeptly distils universal truths from the simplest of situations, presenting them with a sharp yet compassionate eye.
Our region-free Blu-ray Special Edition also features Life As It Is Part the second part of an archival film-by-film interview with Forman, an original Projection Booth commentary recorded especially for this release with Mike White, Samm Deighan and Kevin Heffernan, a 24-page booklet featuring an essay on the film by film historian Michael Brooke.. and more!
• A Blonde in Love presented from an HD transfer of the 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 2:
the second part of an archival film-by-film interview with Forman, newly edited for this release with never-before-seen footage.
• An original Projection Booth commentary recorded
especially for this release with
Mike White, Samm Deighan
and Kevin Heffernan.
• Trailer
• 24-page booklet featuring an essay on the film by film historian Michael Brooke.
• Easter egg.
• New and improved English subtitle translation.
• Region free Blu-ray (A/B/C).
• World premiere on Blu-ray.
Directed by Miloš Forman
Screenplay - Jaroslav Papousěk, Ivan Passer, Miloš Forman
Assistant director - Ivan Passer
Director of Photography - Miroslav Ondříček
Editor - Miroslav Hájek
Sound - Adolf Böhm
Production design - Karel Černý
Music - Evžen Illín
Producer - Rudolf Hájek
Cast
Hana Brejchová - Andula
Vladimír Pucholt - Milda
Vladimír Menšík - Vacovský
Ivan Kheil - Maňas
Jiří Hrubý - Burda
Milada Ježková - Milda's mother
Josef Šebánek - Milda's father
Josef Kolb - Pokorný
Jan Vostrčil - Army Major
Antonín Blažejovský – Tonda
Miloš Forman's acclaimed 1963 feature Black Peter
is
available on Blu-ray and DVD formats,
and his debut Audition/Talent Competition (Konkurs)
is
available on DVD from Second Run.
1966 Oscar® Nomination / Best Foreign Language Film
Empire magazine / 100 Best Films of World Cinema
New York Times / Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made
1965 Venice Film Festival / CIDALAC Award
"If I had to pick just one film, it would be A Blonde in Love...
It's funny and humane, warm and wise and quite delightful"
Ken Loach, The Independent
"When I got into documentaries in the mid-eighties, I discovered how you could not just observe but also sculpt reality. This is when I fell in love with the Czech New Wave. So Forman, Passer, Němec. My favorite film from that era is probably A Blonde in Love, which looks at the world without an agenda, rhetoric, or plot mechanics, but with lots of empathy and irony. It shows that if you have a good sense of casting and know where to put the camera and when not to cut, the most ordinary things can be lifted into something poetic and timeless" Paweł Pawlikowski
"One of my favorite films by Miloš Forman and so bittersweet as to leave an aftertaste. Glorious in black and white and poignant as hell, it’s one of those films that reminds you why you fell in love with cinema in the first place" Neil LaBute
"This wonderful film about young female factory workers in an isolated town in central Czechoslovakia utterly convinced me that I wanted to spend my career making photographs of institutional life. [...] The result is hilariously funny and very touching, with a twist of sadness at the end - a typical Miloš Forman film" Mary Ellen Mark
"A small gem... indescribably exact, touching and funny"
Tom Milne, Time Out Film Guide
"A keystone of the Czech New Wave... political bite, deft humour and a warm but unblinkered view of humanity"
Philip Kemp, Total Film
