A Case for a Rookie Hangman [Blu-ray]

A free-form and darkly surreal adaptation of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Pavel Jura ek’s film also channels Lewis Carroll and Franz Kafka to create one of Czecholsovak cinema’s most unique and deeply disturbing works. A man becomes lost on a country road and finds himself in an alternative, nightmare world that mirrors (then) modern-day Czechoslovakia. Needless to say the film was not warmly received by the authorities, and like his earlier surrealist masterwork Josef Kilian (1963), was promptly ‘banned forever’. Jura ek, who had earlier co-written V ra Chytilova’s Daisies, Jind ich Polak’s pioneering Ikarie XB 1 and Karel Zeman’s A Jester’s Tale, never made another film – but his legacy is one of the most profound, invigorating and important in all Czech cinema. This edition also contains a new 4K restoration presentation of Pavel Juracek and Jan Schmidt s Josef Kilian. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS A Case for a Rookie Hangman (P ipad pro za inajiciho kata, 1969) presented from a brand new 4K restoration of the film from original materials by the Czech National Film Archive. Josef Kilian (Postava k podpirani, 1963): presented from a brand new 4K restoration of the film from original materials by the Czech National Film Archive. Two additional short films written by Pavel Juracek and directed by Jan Schmidt: Cars Without a Home (Auta bez domova, 1959) Black and White Sylva (Cernobila Sylva, 1961) The Projection Booth podcast with Mike White Kat Ellinger, Kevin Heffernan and Peter Hames Trailer Booklet featuring new writing on the film by film historian Michael Brooke New and improved English subtitle translation. Region free Blu-ray Original soundtrack in 2.0 Dual Mono 24-bit LPCM audio UK premiere on Blu-ray