The Barnabáš Kos Case

Director: Peter Solan
Screenplay: Peter Karvaš, Albert Marenčín, Peter Solan
Based On the story: ‘The Rise and Fall of Barnabáš Kos’ (‘Vzostup a pád Barnabáša Kosa’) by Peter Karvaš
Starring: Josef Kemr, Jarmila Košťová, Ján Bzdúch, Milivoj Uzelac
Year: 1964
Duration: 92 min
Country: Czechoslovakia
BBFC Certification: PG

When loyalty to civic duties allows, Barnabáš Kos plays the triangle in the State Orchestra. He sits, quietly, humbly, faithfully, waiting his moment to… *ting* be a part of the lavish and noble machine around him. His fellow musicians mock him for his mild obedience, for his timidity. He’s barely perceptible, a faint smell to wrinkle one’s nose. But some societies reward faithfulness above worth, so one day Barnabáš finds he’s been promoted to Music Director regardless of the fact that even those who have made the decision agree that he is ‘totally incompetent’. The triangle is about to have its day.

Slovak director, Peter Solan cuts through the fatty tissue of political thinking to deliver a satirical piece so perfectly lean that you’ll wonder why it isn’t more widely known (like most of the Second Run catalogue including Before Tonight is Over, another, far wilder Solan picture). The escalation of Kos’ from dismissed to dictator is beautifully managed over the film’s ninety minutes, stepping delicately, quietly from one absurd moment to the next.

Satire often struggles to occupy central register, most often working when either whispered or screamed, but The Barnabáš Kos Case, benefiting hugely from the gentle, studied performance of Josef Kemr as Kos, manages to occupy Kafka territory with a calm pulse. But then, as filmmaker Peter Strickland argues in his excellent booklet essay, to East Europeans, Kafka was viewed as a social realist.

The film is presented beautifully as a new HD transfer of the 2K restoration by the Slovak Film Institute and comes with some superb extra features: an informative introduction from Rastislav Steranka of the Slovak Film Institute; a short film by Solan; a 1969 piece on actor Jarmila Košťová (so deliciously of its time that your TV screen will smell of polyester for some time after viewing) and an animated piece by Viktor Kubal.

Bonus Features

• Invincibility of Absurdity: An introduction to the film by Rastislav Steranka, Director of National Cinematographic Centre, Slovak Film Institute.
• Nemecká (1974): Peter Solan’s powerful documentary short, with original music by Zdeněk Liška.
• Promotion (Postup, 1968): A short film by the renowned Slovak animator and filmmaker Viktor Kubal.
• Portrait: Jarmila Košťová (1969): A short film on the famous Slovak actor.
• 32-page booklet with new writing on the film by author Jonathan Owen and filmmaker Peter Strickland.
• New English subtitle translation.