The Joke (1969)
Acceptable distillation of the Kundera novel, though paring the book's material down to its bare bones (in order to fit it into an 80-minute movie) occasionally means that the scenes float free of context, or that the impact of character's actions feels muted or inexplicable. The book's themes (the indifference of History to personal crisis, sex as weapon against government, the natural foolishness of people, the sad fact that time will always march on and leave men behind) still come through, though. While I doubt that anyone will ever devise a filmic adaptation of a Kundera novel that approaches the marvel of his prose, this isn't bad. (The DVD, however, is awful, with poorly translated burned-in white subtitles and a video print that appears ported from a beat-up old VHS. Shame on you, Facets.)
Grade: B-
Acceptable distillation of the Kundera novel, though paring the book's material down to its bare bones (in order to fit it into an 80-minute movie) occasionally means that the scenes float free of context, or that the impact of character's actions feels muted or inexplicable. The book's themes (the indifference of History to personal crisis, sex as weapon against government, the natural foolishness of people, the sad fact that time will always march on and leave men behind) still come through, though. While I doubt that anyone will ever devise a filmic adaptation of a Kundera novel that approaches the marvel of his prose, this isn't bad. (The DVD, however, is awful, with poorly translated burned-in white subtitles and a video print that appears ported from a beat-up old VHS. Shame on you, Facets.)
Grade: B-
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