The Window - Czechoslovakia 1981

Year Published: 1981

Description: 16mm Film - The Window - Czechoslovakia 1981 Script and Direction: Milan Peer Camera: Petr Pešek Music: Martin Kratochvíl An old man observes the house opposite. The year 1907 is written on its façade. As people's lives and history passed, the appearance of its windows also changed, and little by little laundry, baby diapers, a clothes hanger with a military uniform appeared in them, and behind them a Christmas tree glowed, a little later, with new residents, a television antenna or jeans. The windows changed shape and the house changed too. One day, the house will disappear and be replaced by prefabricated buildings with hundreds of new, shiny windows. However, the lives and people behind them are already a little different. Milan Peer achieved maximum economy with the film 'Okna' (1981), which revisited the theme of the transience of time that was already present in his early films. The longing for a disappearing world in contrast to predatory modernity is now expressed quite simply by the removal of a pair of windows in an old house that was destined for demolition. The film captures the life that takes place behind the windows from a distance, as well as the gradual transformation of the exterior façade. In the end, the house is demolished and replaced by a prefabricated building. The lights of television screens flash from the balconies, their advertising slogans proclaiming: 'Television - a window to the world.' This impressive film was submitted to the Lille International Short Film Festival competition, where it won the Special Jury Prize. Peer used time-lapse methods and some animation techniques to film 'Okna.'

Online Copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChDpivhtZJE

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