A Case for a Rookie Hangman (DVD, Region Free)

Pavel Jurek’s free-form and darkly surreal adaptation of Jonathan Swift’sGulliver’s Travelsalso channels Lewis Carroll and Franz Kafka to create one of Czechoslovak cinema’s most audacious and disturbing works.

Lost on a country road, a man finds himself trapped in a nightmare world that mirrors Communist-era Czechoslovakia. This transgressive film, like his earlier surrealist triumphJosef Kilin(1963), greatly provoked the authorities and was promptly ‘banned forever’.

Jurcek, co-writer of Czech masterworksDaisies, Ikarie XB 1andA Jester’s Tale, was never allowed to direct another film – but his legacy and his commitment to poetic and political truth, remains one of the most profound, invigorating and important in all Czech cinema.

DVD SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
Presented from a new 4K restoration of the film from original materials by the Czech National Film Archive.
Josef Kilin(Postava k podprn):presented from a new 4K restoration of the film from original materials by the Czech National Film Archive.
Two early short films co-written by Pavel Jurcek and directed by Jan Schmidt:
–Cars Without a Home(Auta bez domova, 1959)
–Black and White Sylva(Cernobl Sylva, 1961)
The Projection Booth podcast with Mike White, Kat Ellinger, Kevin Heffernan and Peter Hames.
Trailer.
Booklet featuring a new essay by writer and film historian Michael Brooke.
Region Free DVD (Region ‘0’)