Directed by Ester Krumbachová • 1970 • Czechoslovakia
Starring Jiřina Bohdalová, Vladimír Menšík, Ljuba Hermanová
The sole film directed by Ester Krumbachová, one of the key creative visionaries of the Czechoslovak New Wave, THE MURDER OF MR. DEVIL is an absurdist, feminist deconstruction of the romantic comedy. In search of a husband, a lonely woman (Jirina Bohdalová) sets her sights on the gluttonous Bohouš Čert (Vladimír Mensík)—whose last name, which means “devil,” should give her a major clue as to what she is getting mixed up in. Krumbachová’s background as a set designer is on display in the film’s imaginative production design, which turns a banal domestic space into a wonderland of wild surrealist flourishes.
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Three Ages
Directed by Buster Keaton and Edward F. Cline • 1923 • United States
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Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
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The Smiling Lieutenant
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch • 1931 • United States
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