IMDb RATING
7.4/10
12K
YOUR RATING
A volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.A volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.A volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn spite of many claims the film was banned in Czechoslovakia by the communists in power at the time, it was not. It actually sold over 750,000 tickets in the country and was shown on state-controlled television in 1969.
- Quotes
Gray-haired Committee Member: The lottery has been stolen.
Joska, Committee Member: Gentlemen, there is one fact: if the people stole it, they cannot win it.
Committee Member: Don't talk like that, Joska. What about those people who bought the tickets honestly and didn't steal anything?
Joska, Committee Member: They should have stolen.
- Alternate versionsIn the United States, this film was shown in both subtitled and English-dubbed versions.
- ConnectionsEdited into CzechMate: In Search of Jirí Menzel (2018)
Featured review
hilarious throughout
Whereas Milos Foreman's earlier A Blonde In Love (1965) was more directly influenced by the French New Wave and a charming love story with wry humour, this is more laughs out loud funny. Still almost exclusively populated with non-actors who really did do something locally akin to what they do in the film, this colour film is most amusing whilst deliberately poking fun at the authoritarian regime. The latter element getting the movie 'banned forever'. Fairly short but there is not a wasted frame and kindly towards its ordinary folk, devastatingly critical to the hierarchy and hilarious throughout.
helpful•20
- christopher-underwood
- Aug 4, 2020
- How long is The Firemen's Ball?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Firemen's Ball and Lottery
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $65,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 13 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content