A Blonde in Love Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

A Blonde in Love Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 28, 2019

Milos Forman's "Loves of a Blonde" (1965) arrives on Bluray courtesy of Second Run. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; archival documentary featuring Milos Forman; and an exclusive podcast session recorded by critics Kevin Hefferman, Samm Deighan, and Mike White. The release also arrives with a 22-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic by Michael Brooke and technical credits. In Czech, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

It's time for romance

At the bottom of the ‘perfect’ society the Party had crafted there really were people who genuinely believed that their mission in life was to make sure their comrades lived their lives the ‘right’ way. They were brainwashed beyond repair. They were at the local supermarket keeping an eye on the way people dressed. They were at the movie theater paying attention how people received their films. They were at the factories and collective farms ready to report to their superiors if someone dared to critique their system.

Some did voice their concerns, but they were quickly silenced and then asked to undergo training programs where they were reconditioned to behave properly. The few that understood the bigger picture and refused to do so, while foolishly believing that they might be able to initiate a change, were quietly extracted from their communities and then sent to labor camps where they disappeared without a trace. The official excuse for their ‘departure’ from the community was typically a short story about an unexpected promotion at work which supposedly sent them to another city, or an equally short story about a family issue which the local Party committee had resolved by ‘facilitating a transfer’ to a more suitable community. Then there were the conventional rebels that simply refused to cut their hair, give up their favorite drink, or share the bed of a comrade with a reputation. These unfortunate souls very quickly became ‘recidivists’, ‘alcoholics’, and ‘prostitutes’, and were then promptly discarded. (After being identified, the most stubborn ones died in mental institutions and boot camps which the Party masterfully used to ‘humanely' erase them from its ‘perfect' society).

Milos Forman’s film Loves of a Blonde offers a slice of the Party’s reality without any cinematic garnishes. It is set in a small town somewhere in the heart of Communist Czechoslovakia where an aging factory manager -- and of course seasoned Party member -- strikes a deal with a military official that would bring to the area a big number of red-blooded young soldiers. Why? Because the morale in the all-female wing of the factory that he oversees has hit rock-bottom and he thinks that a little bit of old-fashioned romance is the cure that is needed to fix the problem. However, his partner authorizes a different transfer and instead the area is flooded with a large number of middle-aged, and mostly married, reservists.

During a giant dance party, closely monitored by the manager and a few of his assistants, the single beauty Andula (Hana Brejchova) and two of her best friends have an encounter with three rusty reservists which leaves them hugely disappointed. However, before they part ways Andula is approached by the handsome and much younger jazz pianist Milda (Vladimir Pucholt), a visitor from Prague, who quickly makes her believe that he is a genuine boyfriend material. They spend the night together and on the following morning he invites her to visit him if she ever comes to the capital. Unsurprisingly, the rendezvous leads to disciplinary action at the hostel where Andula lives with her friends, and shortly after that she packs her suitcase and heads to Prague to meet Milda. But her unannounced arrival catches the young man completely off-guard and causes a serious rift between his conservative parents.

The film looks extremely awkward, at times to the point of being grotesque, but its depiction of the utterly absurd reality that the Party had crafted in Communist Czechoslovakia is spot on. (Just to be perfectly clear, Forman easily could have set the film in Hungary, Romania, or Bulgaria, or any other of the former Eastern European satellites, and it would have been just as accurate). In smaller towns and villages the local authorities really did organize weekend balls whose purpose was to match single women with ‘proper’ partners that would then lead to a relationship; the only other crucial detail that the film ignores is the fact that women were expected to become mothers at the right time as well. The Party had a complete plan for everyone and everything. And it is not a coincidence that Milda’s elderly mother is so paranoid either. In the old system independent young women were both a rarity and an incredible risk, because unless they were protected by a powerful apparatchik or Party member -- usually in exchange for regular sexual favors -- their future was doomed. They could not get respectable jobs, their communities ostracized them, and eventually when the time was right they were destroyed as an example for potential future ‘rebels’ and free-thinkers.

*There are quite a few interesting similarities between Loves of a Blonde and The Trial, which Orson Welles completed a few years earlier. Much like Antony Perkins’ Josef K, Andula is placed in a pretty surreal environment where she is guilty because she is trying to be rational. For obvious reasons, Welles’ film goes much further down the exact same rabbit hole.

A Blonde in Love Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Milos Forman's Loves of a Blonde arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Second Run.

The release is sourced from a recent 4K restoration that was completed by the Czech National Film Archive. I have only one minor criticism. The grading job could have been a little better so that the film's dynamic range looks even more convincing. Currently, there are a few areas where the darker backgrounds create the impression that there is unnatural flatness that is trying to sneak in, and in some cases even light crushing pops up that causes native nuances to struggle (see screencapture #23). It appears that some very light and careful grain management work was performed, but I don't have a problem with it. The overall quality of the presentation is very good. I have Criterion's DVD release of the film and a quick comparison immediately reveals massive improvements in terms of fluidity, density, depth, and overall image stability. Simply put, the Blu-ray release offers a vastly more convincing organic presentation of the film. There are no debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, or other conventional age-related imperfections to report in our review. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

A Blonde in Love Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Czech LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

There are no technical issues to report. The audio is clean, stable, and free of age-related imperfections like hiss, hum, distortions. Dynamic intensity is limited, but given the nature of the original production this is to be expected.

A Blonde in Love Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - trailer promoting the 4K restoration of Loves of a Blonde. In Czech and English text, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (2 min, 1080p).

• Life As It Is: Milos Forman on his early Czech films - Part 2 - the first part of this wonderful documentary was included on Second Run's release of Black Peter. Here Milos Forman discusses in great detail how he managed the professional and non-professional actors during the shooting of Loves of a Blonde, the type of atmosphere that he sought for the film, his extremely important professional relationship with cinematographer Miroslav Ondrícek and assistant director Ivan Passer, the 'proper' type of humor films like The Firemen's Ball needed to survive, etc. (The Firemen's Ball was actually banned after the a top member of Politburo saw it and went berserk). The late director also explains how Claude Berri and Francois Truffaut helped him escape from Czechoslovakia after the Soviets invaded the country in 1968. The documentary was produced by Robert Fischer for Fiction Factory. In English, not subtitled. (27 min, 1080p)

• The Projection Booth - this podcast features Kevin Hefferman, Samm Deighan, and Mike White. It was recorded exclusively for Second Run's release.

• Booklet - 22-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic by Michael Brooke and technical credits.

A Blonde in Love Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Don't be fooled by the awkward humor that permeates parts of Milos Forman's Loves of a Blonde. This film actually offers a giant slice of the maddening reality that the Communist rulers in the former Soviet Bloc imposed on their people. Some adapted to it and managed to survive it, but there were many that did not and died miserably while trying to fight or escape it. The blonde that is mentioned in the title, Andula, is a very young girl who after a casual romantic encounter slowly begins to realize that her rationality makes her incompatible with the totalitarian society in which she must live. Predictably, it is only a matter of time before she is made to feel like a problematic outsider. Second Run's new Blu-ray release is sourced from a nice 4K restoration that was completed by the Czech National Film Archive. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.