The Ear
Sól ziemi czarnej
Czechoslovakia • 1970
Director
Synopsis
This paranoid surveillance thriller unfolds over the course of a tense, turbulent night in the life of Ludvík (Radoslav Brzobohatý), a Communist party official, and his wife Anna (Jiřina Bohdalová). Returning home from a party one evening, the pair discover that their house has been broken into and bugged—and that the state may be listening in on their every word. A number of Ludvík’s colleagues have already been terminated in an ongoing purge: could he be next? Completed in 1970 but banned for twenty years, THE EAR masterfully evokes the ever-present sense of dread that defines life under authoritarianism.
Synopsis
This paranoid surveillance thriller unfolds over the course of a tense, turbulent night in the life of Ludvík (Radoslav Brzobohatý), a Communist party official, and his wife Anna (Jiřina Bohdalová). Returning home from a party one evening, the pair discover that their house has been broken into and bugged—and that the state may be listening in on their every word. A number of Ludvík’s colleagues have already been terminated in an ongoing purge: could he be next? Completed in 1970 but banned for twenty years, THE EAR masterfully evokes the ever-present sense of dread that defines life under authoritarianism.
Credits
Crew
DirectorKazimierz Kutz
WriterKazimierz Kutz
CinematographerWiesław Zdort
ComposerWojciech Kilar
EditorIrena Choryńska
Cast
Olgierd Łukaszewiczas Gabriel
Jan Englertas Erwin
Jerzy Bińczyckias Bernard
Jerzy Cnotaas Euzebin
Wiesław Dymnyas Franek