The Ear (1970)

CZECHOSLOVAK CLASSICS: Classics from the unrivalled history of Czechoslovak cinema. Screening throughout September and October at De Uitkijk.

Civil servant Ludvik (Radoslav Brzobohatý) is suspicious. Several of his colleagues within the Communist Party have already disappeared – a ‘purge’ is under way. When Ludvik returns home after a party, he discovers that his house is being bugged. Every wall has become an ear of the regime. Every word is being eavesdropped on. Thus begins a long night of fear, during which Ludvik and his wife argue, drink and cower anxiously against the walls.
Karel Kachyna’s THE EAR (1970) encapsulates a police state in a single sleepless night. The film reveals how authoritarian power conceals itself in plain sight, distorts perception and erodes the fragile boundary between security and fear. THE EAR was banned by the regime immediately upon completion and did not enjoy a public premiere until 20 years later.