Synopsis
The surrealist
Josef Kilián is a dark and absurdly humorous, biting allegory of life under a totalitarian regime. Inspired by the grotesque nightmares of
Franz Kafka and another icon of Czech literature, the anti-militarist, anti-authoritarian
Jaroslav Hasek, the film was suppressed by the authorities after the Soviet invasion of 1968.
Having made only four films, and despite being the author of the screenplays for
Jindřich Polák's
Ikarie XB 1,
Věra Chytilová's
Daisies and
Karel Zeman's
A Jester’s Tale,
Juráček remains one of the Czechoslovak New Wave’s most neglected artists.