The Party and the Guests Blu-ray

British label Second Run will release on Blu-ray Jan Němec's film The Party and the Guests a.k.a. A Report on the Party and the Guests (1966), starring Jan Klusák, Karel Mares, Ivan Vyskocil, Jiri Nemec, and Pavel Bosek. The release will be available for purchase on January 31.

Description: A group of friends on an afternoon picnic are accosted by mysterious authority figures and compelled to join a lavish banquet in the woods. Jan Němec's surreal and sinister fable is a barbed satire of authoritarianism and conformity, as each of the 'guests' find their place among the revellers, succumbing to the will of their menacing hosts.

Distinguished by being 'banned forever' by Czech authorities, Nemec's disquieting film was considered the most politically dangerous film made during the short flowering of Czechoslovak cinema in the 1960's.

Our edition of The Party and the Guests also contains Jiří Trnka's renowned animated short film The Hand (1965), another surreal and savage indictment of totalitarianism (again banned by Czech authorities), making its world premiere on Blu-ray.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM BY THE CZECH NATIONAL FILM ARCHIVE
• The Hand (Ruka, 1965): Jiří Trnka's renowned animated film presented from a new HD restoration and for the first time ever on Blu-ray
• Audio commentary by author Jonathan Owen
• Projection Booth audio commentary with critics Mike White, Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger
• A filmed appreciation by Peter Hames
• 24-page booklet featuring Michael Brooke's substantial essay on the film
• New and improved English subtitle translation