The Barnabas Kos Case Blu-ray

British label Second Run will release on Blu-ray Peter Solan's The Barnabas Kos Case (1964), starring Josef Kemr, Jarmila Kostova, and Ján Bzduc. The release is scheduled to arrive on the market on March 17.

Description: Barnabas Kos, an untalented triangle-player in a state orchestra finds himself unfathomably promoted to conductor. Drunk with power, the once meek Kos now seeks to transform the ensemble to suit his own agenda and inflated vision...

Peter Solan's absurdist, darkly funny satire of a corrupt system that rewards mediocrity and breeds petty dictatorship, openly criticised the practices of communist Czechoslovakia at the time. Its wry exposure of hypocrisy, sycophancy and the corrupting influence of power remains as fresh and relevant today as it did in 1964.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• NEW 2K RESTORATION by the Slovak Film Institute
• The Invincibility of Absurdity: an introduction to the film by Rastislav Steranka, Director of National Cinematographic Centre, Slovak Film Institute
• Promotion (Postup, 1968): a short animated film by Viktor Kubal
• Portrait: Jarmila Kostova: a short film on the famous Slovak actor
• Booklet with new writing on the film by author Jonathan Owen and filmmaker Peter Strickland
• New English subtitle translation
• REGION-FREE