The Party and The Guests by Jan Němec (and written by Ester Krumbachová) is a tour-de-force of cinema. Notoriously distinguished for being banned 'forever' in its native country Czechoslovakia as Peter Hames states:"It was one of four films that was listed as being banned forever... some were politically subversive, or seen to be critical of the system, others were simply banned because they were considered to be elitist or incomprehensible and yet others were banned simply because the film makers were not approved of. And in the case of the party and the guests it came under all three categories." (from the Party and The Guests special features section)
Although Němec denies that the film was supposed to be critical of the communist regime (even up till this day), rather it is about the 'kind of mafia' (Hames) that exist in every society. In my eyes - there are unequivocal analogies towards the communistic / dictatorship Czechoslovakian society. For instance; the 'thugs,' operate in the same vein as the secret police - even so far as when everyone sits down for the banquet - we see the thugs scattering themselves in-between the guests, no further explanation necessary... or even down to the party's host and his newly adopted and devoted son (the son is clearly the leader of the thugs - ordering them to beat-up one of the guests in what is supposedly a joke....) - as while not in the communist style - but it does allude to a authoritarian regime of passing the reigning baton down as it were: think North Korea Kim II-Sung and Kim Jong-II or Iraq Saddam and Uday Hussein.
The style and writing of the film is incredibly clever; the plot has no obvious protagonist - rather follows a group of people who are on their way to attend a banquet. On the way they are captured by the Host's adopted son (who they are unaware of at this stage) and his band of thugs - divided and forced into standing in a drawn-out-mock-pen and subjected into a bizarre interrogation. When one of the guests has enough of this situation and leaves the pen, he is set-upon by the adopted son's henchmen the second his foot crosses the line. All of this transpires to be some sort of practical joke by the son when the host walks into what is happening. Understandably, the guests are shaken - but all is forgiven (the adopted son puts it down to the fact that he is an actor) and they proceed to the banquet. The henchmen assume their places amongst the guests - when it transpires that one of our original guests has gone and his wife discovers she is sitting in the wrong seat (which eventuates into a musical chairs farce). The Host, irritated, is calmed by the son when he suggests going to find the missing guest, as it is assumed that he left because he was so upset with the earlier practical joke. Everyone agrees, and the men set off on what, we as viewers are to assume, a man hunt - complete with a dog, with a known taste for blood. The women are left behind, and the film ends when the last candle is snuffed out and we hear the dog viciously barking in the background.
This short overview does not do the film justice in the slightest; Němec's piece has much much more to be read into, and it should also not be forgotten that stylistically, he has drawn many influences from the earlier surrealist film makers such as Buñuel and the rest.
The Party and the Guests, is an important piece of film which stands firm in the canon and I would highly recommend it.
