PRAGUE NIGHTS (1969) (Deaf Crocodile Blu-ray Review + Screenshots)

PRAGUE NIGHTS (1969) 

Label: Deaf Crocodile 

Region Code: A

Rating: Unrated 

Duration: 99 Minutes 14 Seconds 

Audio: Czech PCM 1.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1) 

Director: Evald Schorm, Jiří Brdečka, Miloš Makovec

Cast: Jan Klusák, Jana Brezková, Jirí Hrzán, Jirí Tomek, Josef Abrhám, Josef Somr, Lucie Novotná, Martin Ruzek, Milena Dvorská, Milena Zahrynowska, Miloš Kopecký, Teresa Tuszyńska, Václav Kotva, Yvetta Simonová

Prague Nights (1969) is a Czeck-fantastic anthology film in the mold of Mario Bava's Black Sabbath, with segments directed by Czech filmmakers Miloš Makovec, Jiří Brdečka (The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians) and Evald Schorm, which opens in Prague in the swinging sixties with a wraparound segment involving a foreign businessman Mr. Fabricius (Miloš Kopecký, Adela Has Noy Had Supper Yet) who leaves a party at a hotel looking for a night of pleasure. He ends up encountering a beautiful blonde woman Zuzana (Milena Dvorská), who is accompanied by her oddball chauffeur Václav (Jirí Hrzán, You Are a Widow, Sir!). He's quite smitten by her and follows her into a creepy old cemetery, where she points out three gravestones and tells him the tales of the departed. That's the wraparound story, shot in black and white with a green tint, which we cut back to before each new segment, of which there are three. 

The first tale proper is director Jiří Brdečka's "The Last Golem," wherein young rabbi Neftali Ben Chaim (Jan Klusák, the composer of Valerie and Her Week of Wonders) is tasked to create a Golem by the Emperor (Martin Ruzek) when older more wizened Rabbi Jehudi Löw (Josef Bláha, I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen) refuses to do so because he feels that the Emperor will use the Golem for nefarious and self-serving purposes. During the process his is distracted by his passion for the mute servant girl (Lucie Novotná), and just when he has complete sculpting his golem and imbued it with the powers of fire, water, and air there's a terrific twist, as it turns out that the older rabbi is working against him to prevent the wrath of God. A wonderfully eerie and hypnotic entry with chilling sound design, and terrific stop-motion animation used to bring the Golem to life. 

In the second segment "Bread Slippers", directed by Evald Schorm, an bi-sexual 18th-century countess (Teresa Tuszyńska) indulges her passions with myriad men and even her sexy chambermaid (Kveta Fialová, Ferat Vampire), most of whom meet an unfortunate ends. One day she is whisked away to a mysterious ball by shoemaker (Josef Somr, Closely Watched Trains) whisks her away by a horse drawn carriage, as well as creepy Venetian masked men, to an abandoned mansion where she will be made to dance with her victims of her passions. This sequence is quite haunting, the acid-trip carriage ride and surreal satanic masquerade ball, with her wearing a custom made baker-themed outfit, including the titular "bread slippers", to face the infernal wrath of her past lovers.  

In the final segment proper "Poisoned Poisoner", directed by Milos Makove, a gorgeous murderess in the Middle Ages dispatches lovers with poison dispensed from a poison-ring, aided and abetted by her servant (Václav Kotva). We see her kill off several would-be suitors before Karma catxches up with her, it's a visually stunning and hallucinatory musical segment set to the 60s Czech Pop songs of Zdeněk Liška.

The film concludes the wrap-up with our foreign businessman eventually winning over the heart of the mysterious blonde woman, unaware that he has secured a lifelong, and long after life, curse of servitude, wrapping up with a wonderful wonk and nod. 

Audio/Video: This Czeck-fantastic rarity has been fully restored for its first-ever U.S. release on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile, the Národní filmový archiv, and Comeback Company, sourced from original 35mm film and sound elements. The film is presented in 1080p HD, the Blu-ray handsomely authored by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion, framed in 1.37:1 fullscreen, the source looks terrific, there's an occasional scratch or two, slight fading and instability, with the color-grade wavering a tad in rare instances, but overall this is largely impressive restoration with rich colors and appreciable texture and well-managed grain. Audio comes by way of Czech PCMO 1.0 Mono with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and has some modest depth to it, it's limited by the mono format, but sound terrific, dialogue is always presented with clarity and the wonderful scores by Jan Klusák and Zdenek Liska fare well in the mix. 

Deaf Crocodile's Blu-ray release includes a new 48-min Video interview with Czech film critic and screenwriter Tereza Brdečka moderated by DC's Dennis Bartok. on her father, Jiří Brdečka (co-director and co-writer of Prague Nights), covering his famed career as a filmmaker, animator & screenwriter, in English. Brdečka was a presence on the extras for Deaf Croc's releases of The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians and Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet, and she is again a welcome presence on this disc, offering tales of her father's storied career in various mediums, his love of cinema, including American films, and his sense of humor. 

She again shows up for a New Audio Commentary by Tereza Brdečka and Czech film expert Irena Kovarova of Comeback Company, both offering interesting insights into the making of the film and its segments. 

Perhaps my favorite extras on this disk are the Two Jiří Brdečka Animated Short Films: the 14-min “Pomsta” (Revenge) (1968) and the 11-min  “Jsouc na řece mlynář jeden” (There Was a Miller On a River) (1971) which are both dark, fantastical and exhilarating. the first tells the tale of a magician conjuring an evil spit, the other a tragic tale of a soldiers return from war, each has it's own unique style, and both exploring myth and the fantastic. 

The single-disc release arrives in a clear, full-height Scanavo keepcase with a 2-sided, non-reversible sleeve of artwork, this one featuring another cool new artwork by Beth Morris. While not reversible the backside of the sleeve features a landscape image of the Countess from the "Bread Slippers" segment in a bath admiring herself in the mirror. Inside there's a 12-Page Illustrated Collector's Booklet with Essay by Critic/Screenwriter Tereza Brdeckova, which making of Prague Nights, that also touches on the intermingling of language, customs, traditions, myths and folklore in Czechoslovakia. 

Special Features: 

- New video interview with Czech film critic and screenwriter Tereza Brdečka on her father, Jiří Brdečka (co-director and co-writer of PRAGUE NIGHTS), covering his famed career as a filmmaker, animator & screenwriter, in English (47:39) 

- New Audio Commentary by Tereza Brdečka and Czech film expert Irena Kovarova of Comeback Company

- Two superb and haunting Jiří Brdečka animated short films: “Pomsta” (Revenge) (1968, 14:04) and “Jsouc na řece mlynář jeden” (There Was a Miller On a River) (1971, 10:58)

- New essay by Tereza Brdečka on the making of Prague Nights

- Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion

- New art by Beth Morris

- 12-Page Illustrated Collector's Booklet with Essay by Critic/Screenwriter Tereza Brdeckova 

Prague Nights (1969) is another terrific slice of Czech-fantastic cinema brought to the masses who appreciate such things via Deaf Crocodile's wonderfully curated catalog. The restoration looks and sounds wonderful, and the extras add a lot of context to the film upon rewatch that only made me appreciate it more.  If you're a fan of fantastical tales, Czech folklore, the occult, and crimes of passion, there is much to adore about the eerie anthology Prague Nights. 

Screenshots from the Deaf Crocodile Blu-ray: 

Extras: 

Buy It!

Amazon

#ad 

Buy It!

Amazon

#ad