Summary
Described as “a mummery about love and death”, this 1966 film by director Antonín Máša is one of the more significant contributions to the treasure chest of the Czechoslovak New Wave. Using his own theme and working with a script co-developed with his camera operator Ivan Šlapeta, Máša created a deliberately enigmatic narrative that pays homage to an earlier film L'Année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year in Marienbad, 1961) by the French director Alain Resnais. Following similar themes to the French film, Máša’s young poet protagonist Petr Hudec (played by Petr Čepek) questions the possibility of reaching a rational and definitive understanding of the world. Within the confusing but intricately observed micro-world of the hotel, Hudec strives to find – and define – pure love. Instead he discovers only estrangement and death. The secession-style narrative, clearly influenced by Franz Kafka, was a unique experiment within Czechoslovak cinema at the time. It also stands out from the rest of Máša’s work, which has more obvious psychological or social themes.
Read more
