Ucho (The Ear) Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Ucho (The Ear)
Year: 1970
Director: Karel Kachyna
Country: Czechoslovakia
Language: Czech 

Although made in 1970, Ucho would be censored and banned by the Czechoslovakian government for nearly 20 years, only seeing a major theatrical release when the iron curtain of the USSR came crumbling down. It has been widely regarded as a masterpiece of the Czech New Wave, but unfortunately a lack of wide release has made this film obscure in the 21st Century, this seems to have happened to a lot of Czech pictures. Thankfully I was able to watch it on Hulu, and can now give it a proper review. 

After a lavish Government party a husband named Ludvik (Radoslav Brzobohatý), who is a senior ministry official, and his wife named Anna (Jirina Bohdalová) find their house is riddled with listening devices put there by his own ministry. A harrowing night follows, which is full of doubt, fear and the possibility of being assassinated, 

Karel Kachyna's Ucho is very much a combination of George Orwell's 1984 and Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf? Set in the height of Czech suppression circa 1970 and even filmed amidst Gustav Husak’s political purges and brutal “renormalization" it is a paranoid thriller where nobody is safe at any moment. Sobering to the danger at hand, Anna helps her husband burn his months of hard work, but soon lapses back into anger and resentment. They bicker and argue, hurting each other, but the couple always seem united when realizing they're up against the government. 

The ending, which I won't spoil for you, would be almost comical if the picture wasn't a nightmare-ish version of the communist regime. Even hope, and the possibility of a bright future, seems like a perverted mind game set up by the government. The film is not linear, rather frequent flashbacks revert to the party earlier in the evening as Ludvik wracks his memory for hidden meanings in the gay frivolities and social niceties. The contrast between the remarkable white walls of the party and the couple's now completely dark house helps increase the reality of their desperate situation.

In conclusion, Ucho is an atmospheric psychological thriller that perfectly captures the mind of the average Czechoslovakian during the era of the Soviet Union's Iron Curtain. It is a film noir mixed with domestic melodrama with a load of history in-between. The cinematography is remarkable and the acting could not be better. Hopefully this will eventually get a home video release in North America. Praise it! 5/5