Something Different (O něčem jinx) / A Bagful of Fleas (Pytel blech)
Two films by Věra Chytilová Czechoslovakia, 1963 / 1962
Release Date: 29 February 2016
Something Different follows the lives of two women – a gymnast in gruelling training (real life Olympic gold-medallist Eva Bosáková), and a dissatisfied housewife (Věra Uzelacová).
The two strands never meet but provide a progressive comment on each other and the differing roles of the women. In A Bagful of Fleas, the everyday world of young factory girls’ lives in the cotton mills of Náchod conflict with officialdom.
These two terrific early works from Věra Chytilová introduce themes evident across her career: a female viewpoint in a world of double standards and predatory sexualisation dominated by men, the expectations and strictures of female gender roles, and a strong critique of contemporary society.
Combining elements of cinema vérité and formalism, and spiked with anarchic humour, her films broke with both genre and ideology and charted a new path for Czechoslovak and Eastern European cinema.
“Particularly relevant to women’s cinema because of their freedom, fluidity, inter- subjectivity, and excess… to which I would add wit, sympathy, and observation” Peter Hames
————————————————-
DVD Special Features:
• Something Different – presented from a new HD digital transfer with restored picture and sound.
• A Bagful of Fleas – presented from a new 2K HD restoration with restored picture and sound.
• Booklet featuring a new essay by author and film programmer Peter Hames.
• New and improved English subtitle translations.
