Product Details

• Actors: Zdenek Bezusek, Karel Blazek, Miroslav Cvrk, Vera Kresadlová, Dagmar Redinová
• Directors: Ivan Passer
• Writers: Ivan Passer, Jaroslav Papousek, Václav Sasek
• Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Homevision
• VHS Release Date: July 18, 2000
• Run Time: 71 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0780023625
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #326,965 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Award-winning comedy (American National Society of Film Critics) revealing the hilarious lifestyles of the residents in a small country town. Brilliantly photographed by cinematographers Josef Strecha and Miroslav Ondricek ("Amadeus", "A League of Their Own"), this spirited farce is never timid, never afraid to reach for the outlandish or sublime. With stunning performances and an unforgettable ending, director Ivan Passer ("Cutter's Way") wonderfully illustrates how the simple life can often lead to the absurd.

Product Description

Award-winning comedy (American National Society of Film Critics) revealing the hilarious lifestyles of the residents in a small country town. Brilliantly photographed by cinematographers Josef Strecha and Miroslav Ondricek (Amadeus, A League of Their Own), this spirited farce is never timid, never afraid to reach for the outlandish or sublime. With stunning performances and an unforgettable ending, director Ivan Passer (Cutter's Way) wonderfully illustrates how the simple life can often lead to the absurd.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Czech Film Renaissance of the 1960s, October 25, 2000

By 

Julian Semilian "Julian Semilian" (Winston-Salem, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intimate Lighting [VHS] (VHS Tape)

During the sixties, before the Russian brutal invasion, the first "Velvet Revolution" in Czechoslovakia manifested itself, among other areas, in a creative new freedom in filmmaking; the films that emerged from that period stand up to the best of Italian Neo-Realism or the French New Wave.

Ivan Passer was Milos Forman's writing partner and his exquisite humor and story telling savoir made itself felt in Forman's early Czech comedies. Then Mr. Passer made his own masterpeice, Intimate Lighting, about the quixotic dreams of two musician friends, one who left their small hometown to become"successful", the other still a music teacher and part of the hometown's chamber music quartet. Intimate Lighting vibrates with pathos and comedy; with a compassionate and ironic eye Passer shines a poetic light on our illusions and small victories. To highlight: a magnificently humorous scene where the diners covetously gawk at the last piece of chicken left on the table, and a drunken twist at the end on the "off into the sunset" scene. A must see for anyone who appreciates fine filmmaking, a good comedy, or wishes to take a peek in the window of a time tragically lost.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Complex Look at Culture and History in Socialist Czechoslovakia, October 23, 2005

By 

Dee Dee Halleck "DeeDee film teacher" (Willow, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intimate Lighting [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A great and brilliantly subtle film. This is a turbulent and complex essay on local vs elite culture, on urban vs rural life styles, on utopian ideals vs difficult realities. It was made in the sixties as the satellite countries began to push for atonomy from a bureaucratic and repressive soviet system.

But it speaks to everyone in its portrayal of the role of art and beauty in the lives of common people.
DeeDee Halleck