Black Peter Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Black Peter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 19, 2018

Milos Forman's "Black Peter" (1964) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Second Run. The supplemental features on the disc include theatrical trailer; new video interview with actress Pavla Martinkova; documentary film production by Robert Fischer; and audio commentary by critic Michael Brooke. The release also arrives with a 20-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by Jonathan Owen and technical credits. In Czech, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Say it. Now say it again.

The absurd reality and people’s equally odd behavior can easily trick one to conclude that somehow Milos Forman managed to have everything perfectly staged. He was good, but not that good. This is simply what life was like in the now defunct Czechoslovakia while its communist leaders ran the country as their masters in Moscow demanded, and Forman essentially captured bits of the circus for its directorial debut, Black Peter.

The main character, Peter (Ladislav Jakim), is a teenager who has just been hired to work in a small grocery store. But he is not expected to be a cashier, grocery stocker, or even a janitor. He will be helping the store manager as a 'watcher' -- someone that blends with the customers, secretly observes them and makes sure that they don’t steal from the store when traffic is heavy. However, shortly after Peter goes to work he spots the first thief who turns out to be an elderly gentleman, so instead of confronting him on the spot he allows him to exit the store and then spends the rest of the day following him across the city. Later that night Peter’s father (Jan Vostrcil) demands that he explains his actions during his first day on the job, as well as his complete strategy to deal with citizens that undermine the image of their country. While taking breaks from work Peter then bumps into Pavla (Pavla Martinkova), who seems like the perfect girl to fall in love with, and the two begin seeing each other. But his strategy for their romantic relationship also proves less-than-stellar and eventually he earns another lecture from his knowledgeable father.

The film is incredibly funny and sad for the exact same reasons. For example, some of the most entertaining material emerges during Peter’s discussions with his father, but the closer one examines what is being said by the old man, the clearer it becomes that his ability to reach intelligent conclusions is permanently damaged and therefore much poorer than that of his inexperienced son. Peter’s funny interactions in the store then reveal that his father’s ‘knowledge’ is actually a societal norm of sorts, and only ‘troublemakers’ like Peter and his buddies occasionally register that there is something seriously awkward about it.

The emergence of the ‘thieves’ is another example that makes the big picture crystal clear. They are not conventional criminal elements but ordinary citizens that compromise themselves and their communities because of basic product shortages. In other words, they are also ‘troublemakers’ that have realized the absurdity of a system that has defined their environment but instead of openly confronting it choose to cheat it as often as they can. This exact ‘logic’ is precisely what preserved the status quo in the Soviet satellites in Eastern Europe for decades after the end of WWII.

On the flip side is Peter’s romantic fascination with Pavla, which for the most part grows as it should. At first the boy shows a somewhat comical indecisiveness and then gradually becomes more comfortable with the beautiful girl. The authentic simplicity of their interactions gives the film tremendous warmth.

*This home video release of Black Peter is sourced from a new 4K restoration of the film which was undertaken by the Czech National Film Archive in 2017. The restored master was struck from the original camera negative and a duplicate positive which was accessed to reconstruct missing parts.

Black Peter 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 Black Peter arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Second Run.

The release is sourced from a new 4K restoration of the film which was undertaken by the Czech National Film Archive in 2017. The restored master was struck from the original camera negative and a duplicate positive which was accessed to reconstruct missing parts.

My one and only criticism pertains to the presence of large damage marks that repeatedly pop up in the upper right corner of the screen. I did not find them distracting at all, but there are five or six, possibly even a few more of these marks, and I am not exactly sure why they were not eliminated. There are digital tools that could have easily and permanently removed them. Everything else looks lovely. There are a few areas where the film's dynamic range fluctuates a bit, which suggests that these were likely the areas where footage from the duplicate positive was utilized, but the overall density and fluidity of the visuals is very good. The grading is also convincing. There are proper nicely saturated blacks and especially good ranges of grays and whites that look terrific when the film is projected. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments, so from start to finish the film boasts a very solid organic appearance. Image stability is terrific. (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 PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Black Peter 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.

The quality of the lossless track is outstanding. During the remastering process specific work must have been done to ensure optimal stability, clarity, and fluidity, and as far as I am concerned it immediately shows. Obviously, given the low-budget quality of the production the overall dynamic intensity remains very modest, but this is the native identity of the original soundtrack.

Black Peter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

NOTE: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray release are perfectly playable on North American Blu-ray players, including the PS3.

• Trailer - trailer for the 4K restoration of Black Peter. In Czech, with optional English subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).

• Interview with Actress Pavla Martinkova - in this new video interview, actress Pavla Martinkova recalls how she was cast to play her character in Black Peter, and discusses Milos Forman's working methods at the time (and specifically his management of professional and non-professional actors), the shooting of key sequences, her interactions with Ladislav Jakim and his performance, the social environment that is preserved in the film, etc. The interview was filmed at the Winter Stadium in Kolin in May 2018. In Czech, with optional English subtitles. (16 min, 1080p).

• Life As It Is: Milos Forman on His Early Czech Films - in this archival documentary, Milos Forman discusses his early fascination with cinema and some of the films that inspired him to become a director, the evolution of his career and style during his early years in Czechoslovakia, the social and creative atmosphere at the time, his first short films, the qualities of the second wave of Czech films that he and the other directors from his generation aimed to produce as a form of 'resistance' to the initial first wave of communist propaganda films, how the popular image of his films (which we generally perceived as harmless comedy) helped him avoid the communist censors, the production of Black Peter, etc. The documentary was produced by Robert Fischer for Fiction Factory. In English, not subtitled. (32 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - an audio commentary by critic Michael Brooke.

• Booklet - 20-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by Jonathan Owen and technical credits.

Black Peter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The humor in Milos Forman's directorial debut, Black Peter, is just a facade that masks a casual but effective deconstruction of the absurd social system and relevant standards that were the status quo for many decades in Czechoslovakia and the rest of the countries from the Soviet Bloc. It is why the film has a dual identity -- on one hand it is funny and charming, but on the other hand it is a real eye-opener that is as valuable as a period documentary feature. Second Run's new release is sourced from a very good 4K restoration of the film that was recently completed under the supervision of the Czech National Film Archive. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.