Pearls of the Deep

This episode film from the days of the New Wave, based on stories by the writer of Closely Observed Trains (Bohumil Hrabal), provides a heady reminder of Czech fashions. The thing closely observed here is death, seen at work in locations like a geriatric hospital (Nemec's episode), a Grand Prix motor race (Menzel), and a self-service restaurant (Chytilová). But the mood is the customary one of ironic contemplation, shading into overt fantasy; sometimes the mixture is clumsily handled (Chytilová and Schorm are the main culprits), yet it's mostly successful.