The bomb, the Cold War and the Czech film

Abstract

This article addresses the theme of nuclear disaster in Czech cinema of the second half of the 20th century. Examining two films based on Karel Čapek's cautionary novel Krakatit (Krakatit, 1947; Temné slunce [Dark Sun], 1980) and the 1966 feature Konec srpna v hotelu ozón [The End of August at Hotel Ozone], it demonstrates the impact of the changing political situation on the Czech film industry and the resulting film productions. These case studies allow the author to demonstrate the close interconnectedness between the films’ texts and their respective discursive fields, as well as the impact of fear of nuclear apocalypse in the population at large.

Keywords:

• Czech cinema
• post-World War II
• nuclear apocalypse

Notes

1. Pavel Melounek, Čeští filmaří, něžní barbaří [Czech Filmmakers, Tender Barbarians] (Praha: Bohemia, 1996), 18.

2. M.G. ‘Odzbrojení a atomová puma’ [Disarmament and the Atomic Bomb], Rudé právo, 9 August 1947.

3. ‘Zbavit svět neutronové pumy’ [Eliminate the Neutron Bomb], Rudé právo, 31 January 1978.

4. Dušan Rovenský, ‘Naléhavá výzva’ [An Urgent Appeal], Rudé právo, 3 February 1978.

5. Z.R., ‘Chceme žít v míru’ [We Want to Live in Peace], Rudé právo, 10 January 1978.

6. Peter Hames, The Czechoslovak New Wave (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985), 166.

7. Peter Hames, The Czechoslovak New Wave (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985), 167.