Loves of a Blonde

Loves of a Blonde (1965)

Genres - Comedy, Romance  |   Sub-Genres - Black Comedy, Comedy of Manners, Satire  |   Release Date - Dec 20, 1965 (USA - Unknown)  |   Run Time - 88 min.  |   Countries - Czechia  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Review by Josh Ralske

Milos Forman's Loves of a Blonde is a modest and delightfully naturalistic comedy. The film opens with a plaintively sung Beatle-esque love song (in Czech, naturally, except for the "yeah, yeah, yeah"s) that perfectly captures the film's playful spirit, and the hint of melancholy underneath. In the first extended setpiece of the film, three older, married, reservists contemplate putting the moves on a table of young women, and bicker endlessly about how to proceed. Meanwhile, the women are also in disagreement as to whether acknowledge the attentions of the men. Forman cast mostly non-actors in the film, and he demonstrates a fine eye for faces, which make the shorthand of his characterizations that much more effective. Forman adeptly mixes the verbal humor in the scene with low-key physical comedy, as in the close-ups of Andula's (Hana Brejchova) frowning face as she dances with a clumsy bespectacled soldier. There's a sweetly amusing post-coital scene between Andula and Milda (Vladimir Pucholt). But the film gets even better when the scene shifts to Prague, where Andula encounters Milda's confused, worried mother (Milada Jezkova) and father (Josef Sebanek). Jezkova and Sebanek deliver superb comic performances as the grumpy couple, and when Pucholt enters the scene later, the film reaches its comedic heights. Forman's sublime portrait of family dysfunction makes the quiet unassuming Loves of a Blonde a memorable work of cinema.