In May 2000, film director Milos Forman was interviewed in New York, but that on-camera conversation never aired. After his death in April 2018, that footage was edited into this film, which, along with photographs and excerpts from his movies, traces the trajectory of his career from his native Czechoslovakia to his success in America. Forman describes his time as a film student who was lucky to have wonderful teachers – all artists who taught to earn a living after being silenced by the communist regime. He learned from Italian neorealist and French New Wave films (which he watched in class, as they weren’t screened in theaters) that cinema could depict real life, not just communist propaganda. Soon Forman became known as more of a comedic filmmaker, which enabled him to evade the regime’s radar because, as he explains, no one felt that comedies had anything significant to say or that they threatened the nation. And that’s just the beginning of this film, which includes stories, anecdotes, and reflections on his prolific career. Forman was a great conversationalist, and this time with him is an informative and entertaining lesson on cinema from one of its greats.
