Perhaps best known for being 'banned forever' in its native Czech Republic, Jan Nemec's experimental film is a surreal, creepy allegory about the cause and effects of power and conformity. A group of happy, carefree picnickers are accosted by a group of thugs led by bullying sadist Rudolf (Jan Klusák), who quickly gains an unbreakable hold over the group and subjects them to a cruel psychological game in which he acts as interrogator. The ordeal is interrupted by the arrival of a stranger, Hostitel (Ivan Vyskocil), who invites the whole party to a nonsensical yet elegant and formal outdoor banquet.
As the bizarre games continue, one member of the party chooses to run away, and the film ends with the entire group arming themselves as a shooting party and setting off to hunt him down.
Extras
Newly filmed appreciation by author/film programmer Peter Hames and booklet featuring a new essay by writer/DVD producer Michael Brooke
