Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour • Presented by Archives on Screen

Vražda ing. Certa (Murdering the Devil)

Introduction by Alice Lovejoy

Friday, February 14 • 8:30pm • Tickets: $12 General (+ $2 online fee), $8 Members (no fee), $8 Students (door)

ABOUT THE FILM

A feast of feminist revenge for an absurdist appetite, Murdering the Devil is the perfect Valentine’s Day date movie. Dissatisfied with single life and hungry for romance, 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 surreal (and cannibalistic) ends in seducing this nightmare date… who may just be the devil himself. The sole directorial outing from legendary Czechoslovak New Wave costume designer and writer Ester Krumbachová (Daisies, Witchhammer, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders), Murdering the Devil is an orgy for the senses, pushing Krumbachová’s signature production style to dizzying and sumptuous heights.

Il Cinema Ritrovato Program Notes

"We live and operate in a man’s world. That’s why we as women are like guests. Of course, this could be an advantage for us, because we can mock the male world more easily," Ester Krumbachová said in an interview with A.J. Liehm. The Czech set designer, costume designer, screenwriter and director did not consider herself a feminist, but deconstructing patriarchal structures was a lifelong mission for her – as it was for her friend Vera Chytilová. The battle of the sexes was also the subject of her only directorial effort Murdering the Devil (Vražda ing. Certa).

The simple plot woven from many fairytale archetypes consists of a series of meetings in the apartment of the nameless protagonist. A friend she hasn’t seen in years, engineer Bohouš Cert [Devil in Czech], arrives. While she lovingly prepares a feast of many courses, he just sips, munches and grunts without restraint. And still he isn’t satisfied. The more empty plates and chewed-up furniture legs he leaves behind, the more his hostess is horrified. But she still dreams that the visitor from hell will rescue her from her boring, lonely life, so she lets the Devil invade her privacy again and again. She only keeps him away from the fridge, her Pandora’s box…

With previous projects, Krumbachová could only use a fraction of her skills. On Vražda ing. certa she embraced everything she was fascinated by and excelled at. She herself gave form to a detailed mise-en-scène with a touch of Art Nouveau and occultism, sewed the clothes, made the jewellery, designed the furniture, and even prepared the food that conveys more meaning than the dialogue. The film passed censorship and was allowed to premiere in September 1970. However, artistic opportunities of Krumbachová, who collaborated on many politically problematic films of the Czechoslovak New Wave, were gradually cut down. She never made another film. This visually opulent parable about male and female roles not only launched but also ended the directorial filmography of this Renaissance woman. –Martin Šrajer

RESTORATION NOTES:

Murdering the Devil: Copy from NFA. Restored in 4K 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. Funding provided by Milada Kucerová and Eduard Kucera.