Sadly, "The Fireman's Ball" can hardly be watched anymore as anything more than a historical curiosity. Without the proper background, and without knowing that it's an early work from the very same director who would later create American classics like Hair, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Man on the Moon, you'll almost definitely pass it by and you certainly can't figure out by yourself that it was considered harsh enough political satire at the time of its release that it was banned in Czechoslovakia for being damaging to the communist regime. By itself, there isn't much about The Fireman's Ball to set it apart from the British "Carry On" movies or from any other oddball comedy made in Europe in the 60's and 70's.
That's not to say the film doesn't have some excellent scenes; the one with the beauty pageant contestants in the officers' office is the most famous but certainly not the only memorable one. The humor is black and dry but the very natural acting by the local, unknown actors makes all the difference, their facial expressions telling a complete story all by themselves, and the film has some truly inspired shots (especially considering the meager budget). The great scenes are few and far-between, though, and they can easily get lost in the general messy chaos, and it's easy for the viewer to get bored quickly. To sum up, I recommend it for cinephiles and lovers of cinema history, especially cinema made under Communist regimes - I'm glad I saw it even though I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped to - but not for the general public.
That's not to say the film doesn't have some excellent scenes; the one with the beauty pageant contestants in the officers' office is the most famous but certainly not the only memorable one. The humor is black and dry but the very natural acting by the local, unknown actors makes all the difference, their facial expressions telling a complete story all by themselves, and the film has some truly inspired shots (especially considering the meager budget). The great scenes are few and far-between, though, and they can easily get lost in the general messy chaos, and it's easy for the viewer to get bored quickly. To sum up, I recommend it for cinephiles and lovers of cinema history, especially cinema made under Communist regimes - I'm glad I saw it even though I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped to - but not for the general public.