The Menu, one of the most popular films of 2022, is currently streaming onNetflix, much to the delight of the many patrons who found it satisfying and satirically delicious. Public acclaim aside,The Menulacked the subversive nature that thrives in some of the best allegorical satires and was rather dull in addressing its themes. The same cannot be said about a film released in 1966 that made much better use of a similar setting to address the dynamics of power and subjugation,A Report on the Party and the Guests.
Directed by Jan Němec, one of the members of what’s now known as the Czech New Wave,A Report on The Party and the Gueststakes a simple premise of a picnic and turns it upside down into a political satire that depicts control and conformity under a dictatorship. Banned by the government upon release, it features some of the key aspects that made Němec’s body of work unique. LikeDiamonds of the NightandA Loaf of Bread, the depiction of roles assigned by power and the struggle to exist against insurmountable odds take center stage. Fans ofThe Menuowe it to themselves to view Němec’s subversive satire of life under a communist regime.
A Picnic and The Subjugation of the Population
Many films that were a part ofthe Czech New Wavefound ways to illustrate themes of resistance, cooperation, and complacency under various power structures. Films such asThe CrematorandThe Fifth Horseman is Fearprovided depictions of ordinary citizens living under Nazi occupation and the choices they made regarding collaboration and resistance.A Report on the Party and the Guestssees Němec follow suit.By taking something as simple as a picnic and a party, Němec shows how ordinary citizens, once independent and autonomous over their actions, become interwoven into the web of power of a communist dictatorship.
A Report on The Party and the Guestsbegins with a group of carefree and happy citizens on a picnic, enjoying their autonomy and personal freedom and reveling in their individualism. One even remarks that, “Each of us sees things differently. We can’t be ruled by the same opinion.”The simple depiction of a tranquil meal allows Němec to illustrate the idyllic democratic society where the populace enjoys personal freedom. However, this semi-utopian setting soon becomes corrupted at the onset of unwanted guests.
Illustrating how an authoritarian regime forces itself upon the population,the picnic is interrupted by a group of individuals who soon take control of the location. Their attire, similar to that of the group of vacationers, sets up a subtle means of depicting how a regime infiltrates a population by having its informers walk among its citizens. The vacationers are immediately ordered to form a line and issued threats of “we know everything.” Němec perfectly illustrates the aspects of“falling in line” with a new regimeand its threatening means by which it exerts control.
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The Term “Party” Takes on a Double Meaning
There’s quite a bit that one can assume from a title likeA Report on The Party and the Guests. Naturally, there’s an assumption that it refers to an actual party, a gathering of individuals to engage in a celebration of sorts.Němec makes the term take on a perverse double meaning, as it takes the form of the literal definition and alsopertains to a political party, which is the crux of the film’s second half. A mysterious leader invites the vacationers to participate in a larger celebration. Like many dictators, there are key moments of dialogue that make empty promises of hope and unity, at one point even proclaiming that brothers should not turn against brothers and guests should not turn against guests.
Once reveling in their thoughts of personal freedom and autonomy, the vacationers are quick to change their viewpoints and opinions to coincide with the regime; it’s a way for Němec to illustrate the indoctrination and conformity of the populace. The power exerted on the population by a regime in terms of maintaining order takes the form of something as simple as a seating arrangement.
Every guest has their own place to fulfill as the leader oversees the celebration, and when one of the guests is missing in attendance, it sets off a domino effect of outrage and becomes a means to illustrate non-attendance as a form of treason. The other guests are soon hunting down the guest who has decided not to join the party.By taking a simple setting and using it to illustrate a country under the control of an authoritarian regime, Němec provides discourse and satirical allegory for a dictatorship and the control that’s necessary for maintaining power.
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A Masterclass in Subversion and Social Commentary
A Report on The Party and the Guests, while certainly Jan Němec’s most well-known film, both for its content and the controversy that led to it being banned, isone of the best examples of a director providing a subversive satire on the political climate in which they live in. Whether it’s the double meaning of the word “party” in the title or the way Němec illustrates the dynamics of power, subjection, and conformity,audiences who found enjoyment inThe Menushould seek out one of the Czech New Wave’s greatest treasures.
