简介："It’skind-ofsmalltownandbigboredom…”isthesharpjudgmentthatacharacterinJozefZachar’sfilm,ContractWiththeDevil,passesonanySlovaktown(includingitscapitalcity).Atthepointwhenstorylineexaminesandexplainstheeventsthathavealreadytakenplace,thiscommentrevealsthemainthemeofthefilm,namelytheformsofourboredom,theprotagonistsofourboredom,andwhattodoaboutourboredom.Itisathemethatmanyviewersbytheendofthe1960sappreciatedasinteresting,provocative,ordaring.However,Zachar’sfilmcertainlydoesnotmarkabreakthroughinfilmicresolutionofthetheme.Morethananythingelse,thistrifleofacomedy—popularwithviewers—isaninterestingandemblematicbattlefieldofcarelesslywastedopportunities.Itholdsviewers’attentionthroughaseriesofmerehintsatinsubordinationtothesocietalconstraintsimposedorpetrifiedbyCommunism.Buttheunfinished,carelessfilmicexecutionofthosehintsshowsinhighdefinition,sotosay,thelimitsofmanyfilmmakers’thinkingduringthepreciousperiodofrelaxedCommunisminthe1960s. Thestorylineismundane,orasPavelBrankocharacterizedit,“aprurientstorycalculatedforcommercialsuccess.[1]”Itbeginswiththediscoverybyhigh-schoolofficialsthatfivefemalestudentslefteroticphotos(presumablytheirs)inaclassroom,alongwithacontractwiththedevilthattheywouldlosetheirvirginitybeforegraduation.Theirparents’reactionsrangefrom“OurEvahasthebestupbringing,austereandChristian…andCommunist!”to“Iusedtohaveabodylikethis,too!”Theparentstrytoannulthecontractwiththedevilbytheirownavowaltosuperviseanddisciplinetheiroffspringmoreseverely.Butthegirlsrunawayfromthegynecologicalexamthatwastoconfirmtheirvirginity,andfromtheirmodelhomesandschool.Whatfollowsisaseriesofepisodesoftheir“courageous,”hopeful,aswellasembarrassingattemptstobreechtheinterdictionimposedbythetwobasiceducationalinstitutions—schoolandfamily. Thefilm’swastedpotentialismostpalpableintwoscenesthatstrivetoassaulttheviewers’presumed,unprincipled,small-townprovincialism,summedupinthephrase“don’tgetinvolvedandyou’llbefine.”Thesescenesare“counterattacks”againsttheoperationofschoolsandfamilies.Thefirstsceneisavariationonthedeviceofafilm-within-a-film:afamilyscreenstheir“morallyuplifting”16-mmhomemovieforMarcela,oneofthegirls.Thefatheroperatesthesmallgadget,thefamilyprojector,hopingtoaffirmtheworkingsofthebasicsocietalcontraption,thefamily.Howeverhisprojector,justlikehisfamily,keepsbreakingoff. Thesecondsceneisthepartyatthehomeofthesonof“big-leagueparents,”whereEmma,anotherofthegirls,performsastriptease.AccordingtoTheHistoryofSlovakFilm,atthattime“formerlyquiteprudishfilmmaking,which,ofcourse,tabooedanakedfemalebodyinthenameofCommunist—andCatholic—norms,nowincorporatedstripteaseandlovescenesthatwerenotexactlycopiedfromahandbookofappropriatebehavior.”[2]Buttheeroticchargeofthesceneisnottheonlyissue.Theinteresting,tension-creatingpolarizationbetweenthecharacters(abandonversuscorruption),theuseofcharacteristicdialogue,andtheoverall,vividlyacted“playfulness”—allofthesecontainthepotentialforabetterfilm.Thedaringculminationofthesceneisnottheimageofanakedstudent,butthehereticalburningofacrossinaglassofcognacthatissetonfire. TheparadoxicalreceptionofContractwiththeDevilatthetimeofitsreleaseisoftenforgotten.WhileJurajJakubisko’sCrucialYears(alsoknownasChrist’sYears;Kristoveroky,1967),releasedinthesameyear,wasmetwithacclaimbyreviewersandhasremainedacommontopicinworksonSlovakcinema,atthesametimeitspopularreceptionwaslukewarm,attendancelow,andsomeviewersevencriticizeditasimmoral.Bycomparison,ContractwiththeDevilgeneratedgoodticketsales.Ontheonehand,thiswasindicativeoftheleveloftherelaxationofcommunismin1967,butalso,ontheother,ofthedegreetowhichContractwiththeDevilwasbehindthetimes:thefilm,whichclearlyintendedtooffendwhatitsawasossifiedprudishmorality,actuallyreceivedpraisefromCtiborŠtítnický,thecommunist-appointedDirectoroftheKolibastudios,asa“decent”film,bothintermsofitscommercialsuccessanditscontent.[3]Paradoxicallythen,ContractwiththeDevil,conceivedasapiercingthematicbreakthrough,merelybecameapopularentertainmentfilmbythetimeofitsreleaseduetothequickpaceofpoliticalchangesinthecountry,anditdidnotcontainenoughartistrytosustainareputationamongcinéastesafterwards.…