The Firemen's Ball (1967)

89% of critics liked it
(19 reviews)
80% of users liked it
(2,109 ratings)

Firemen's Ball was Czechoslovakian director Milos Forman's final film in his home country; he was scouting locations in Paris when the Russians moved their tanks into Prague in 1968 causing Forman to decide to remain an expatriate. Because of the supercharged political climate of the era, critics… More Firemen's Ball was Czechoslovakian director Milos Forman's final film in his home country; he was scouting locations in Paris when the Russians moved their tanks into Prague in 1968 causing Forman to decide to remain an expatriate. Because of the supercharged political climate of the era, critics read all sorts of allegory and hidden meanings into the Firemen's Ball. Other critics simply accepted the film as the slapsticky tale of a disastrous small-town celebration in honor of a retiring fire chief, and laughed accordingly. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 13 min.
Directed By: Milos Forman
Written By: Ivan Passer
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Dec 15, 1967 Wide
On DVD: Feb 12, 2002
Studio: Cinema V

Critic Reviews

Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
The Party, the People, and the flames that won't be extinguished
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
The last film of Czech Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)before leaving his country for the U.S. was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A lively but gross satire by Czech writer-director Milos Forman.
Stephen Garrett, Time Out New York
The nonprofessional actors, hammy slapstick and overwrought politics make it a better conversation piece than viewing experience.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
A text book art movie from a young rebel.
Dan Lybarger, Nitrate Online
Once banned in its country of origin, this allegorical comedy is scathing and downright hilarious.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, San Francisco Examiner
May be Forman's greatest work.

Read all 7 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Ken S

fantastically funny
AJ V

A hilariously quirky little foreign comedy from a brilliant director. There aren't any really well known actors or anything like that, but it's short and simple and enjoyable, so I highly recommend it.
Randy T

Director Milos Forman's last film endeavor in his native Czechoslovakia is a comedy ripe with covert political satire, so much so that it almost cost him 10 years in a socialist prison. A small town fire brigade is throwing a party to honor their retiring commissioner, complete… More
Director Milos Forman's last film endeavor in his native Czechoslovakia is a comedy ripe with covert political satire, so much so that it almost cost him 10 years in a socialist prison. A small town fire brigade is throwing a party to honor their retiring commissioner, complete with a dance, a prize lottery and a beauty contest. Murphy's Law applies and all that can go wrong does. Whether it's intentional or not, Forman's film has a lot to say about the fallacy of social control committees and bureaus when they run counter to common sense and human nature. <i>The Fireman's Ball</i> is as courageous as it is funny. Four Stars.
Tim S

Milos Foreman before Amadeus and with real people instead of actors = badass.
Pierluigi P

Hilarious. Reminded me of the farcical tone and ineptitude of the Keystone cops and sense of anarchy of the Marx brothers. Superb political satire.
Grifty G

Brilliant yet simple film about small town firemen hosting a dance with door prizes and a last minute beauty pageant. Love the documentary feel of this... Also, you know its good when its country permanently bans the film.
Ivan D

Though it's not very surprising to such films of this kind, I'm still quite flabbergasted at this film's cynical randomness. "The Firemen's Ball" opened up with a seemingly very decipherable humor-laden symbolism(the ball poster on fire) of the eponymous… More
Though it's not very surprising to such films of this kind, I'm still quite flabbergasted at this film's cynical randomness. "The Firemen's Ball" opened up with a seemingly very decipherable humor-laden symbolism(the ball poster on fire) of the eponymous event's forthcoming doom. Since then, it's all chaos and weird plot devices(the lottery prize table, the axe gift) that although Milos Forman claimed it to have no buried meanings, it's still very hard to imagine that everything that transpired in the picture are without some political innuendos. But above the weird and the absurd, lies one simple message of the film that was indeed very clear to me: A simpler party for the chairman could have made a more heartfelt celebration(furthered by how the chairman perfectly delivered what he's got to say). Without the unpredictable mob, without the prizes, even with just him and his bumbling firemen, I think it would have still been called a night. Milos Forman, From "The Firemen's Ball" to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"(or "Amadeus"); Now that's what I would call a great directorial jump.