The Joke (film)
| The Joke | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jaromil Jireš |
| Screenplay by | Jaromil Jireš Milan Kundera |
| Based on | The Joke 1967 novel by Milan Kundera |
| Produced by | Miloš Stejskal |
| Starring | Josef Somr Jana Dítětová Luděk Munzar |
| Cinematography | Jan Čuřík |
| Edited by | Josef Valušiak |
| Music by | Zdeněk Pololáník |
Running time | 81 minutes |
| Country | Czechoslovakia |
| Language | Czech |
The Joke (Czech: Žert) is a 1969 Czechoslovak film by director Jaromil Jireš. It is considered one of the last films of the Czech New Wave movement.
Based on Milan Kundera's 1967 novel of the same name, The Joke tells the story of Ludvík Jahn, a man expelled from the Czechoslovak Communist Party for an idle joke to his girlfriend, and the revenge he later seeks through adultery. The film was produced during the political liberalization of the 1968 Prague Spring and contains many scenes which satirize and criticize the country's communist leadership. Amos Vogel wrote that the film was "possibly the most shattering indictment of totalitarianism to come out of a Communist country".