A blind date with the devil? Sounds about right.
Czech New Wave costume designer and writer Ester Krumbachová (“Daisies,” “Witchhammer,” “Valerie and Her Week of Wonders”) made her directorial debut with beloved 1970 feminist satirical film “Murdering the Devil” about, well, an actual date from hell.
Krumbachová’s only feature was so controversial that the filmmaker became blacklisted from directing while trying to release the film amid the conservative politics at the time. Now, almost 50 years later, “Murdering the Devil” is getting a long overdue international theatrical release with a 4K restoration.
The official synopsis reads: “Dissatisfied with single life and eyeing marriage, an unnamed fortysomething bachelorette (Jirina Bohdalová) decides to rekindle a relationship with her old childhood friend (Vladimír Mensík). But when he arrives for an elaborately prepared dinner rendezvous, her suitor reveals himself to be a boorish, arrogant glutton. Undeterred, she pushes herself to increasingly absurd and surreal ends in romancing this nightmare date…who may just be the devil himself.”
Ljuba Hermanová and Helena Růžičková also star.
Writer/director Krumbachová’s sole feature is considered a tentpole of the Czechoslovak New Wave movement, also deemed the Prague Spring. She collaborated on Miloš Forman’s “The Firemen’s Ball,” Vojtech Jasný’s “All My Good Countrymen,” Karel Kachyna’s “The Ear,” and Otakar Vávra’s “Witchhammer,” among other films. Yet after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, Krumbachová’s film career stalled.
She went on to sell handmade jewelry and painted postcards, while secretly collaborating with the Laterna Magika multimedia theater. After the Velvet Revolution, Krumbachová briefly returned to work in film and television. Krumbachová died in 1996.
“Murdering the Devil” was restored in 2023 by Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in collaboration with Národní filmový archiv and Státní Fond Kinematografie at UPP and Soundsquare Studios laboratories from the original image and sound negatives. Milada Kučerová and Eduard Kučera provided funding. The 4K restoration screened earlier at the Rotterdam Film Festival and Il Cinema Ritrovato.
The Metrograph in New York City will debut the U.S. theatrical release of “Murdering the Devil” before its nationwide limited rollout. The Metrograph has curated the series “The Phantom of Ester Krumbachová” for the “Murdering the Devil” premiere, with the program featuring Krumbachová’s collaborations with other filmmakers.
“Murdering the Devil” in 4K will debut at Metrograph on October 25, followed by a limited nationwide theatrical release from Arbelos. Check out the trailer and poster below.
