<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The paper explores the philosophical treatment of sacrifice in four of Jiří Menzel’s films of the 1960’s, <italic>Closely observed trains</italic> (<italic>Ostře sledované vlaky</italic>), <italic>Capricious summer</italic> (<italic>Rozmarné léto</italic>), <italic>Mr Balthazar’s death</italic> (<italic>Smrt pana Baltazara</italic>), his short film contribution to the anthology film of the New Wave, <italic>Pearls of the deep</italic> (<italic>Perličky na dně</italic>), and <italic>Larks on a string</italic> (<italic>Skřivánci na niti</italic>). The paper argues that Menzel problematizes romanticized versions of messianic sacrifice as they all too easily disregard the moral significance of mundane relations. By analysing the treatment of sacrifice in each of these films, the paper makes a case for the significance of Menzel’s treatment of sacrifice for current philosophical debates.</p></abstract>

The paper explores the philosophical treatment of sacrifice in four of Jiří Menzel’s films of the 1960’s, Closely observed trains (Ostře sledované vlaky), Capricious summer (Rozmarné léto), Mr Balthazar’s death (Smrt pana Baltazara), his short film contribution to the anthology film of the New Wave, Pearls of the deep (Perličky na dně), and Larks on a string (Skřivánci na niti). The paper argues that Menzel problematizes romanticized versions of messianic sacrifice as they all too easily disregard the moral significance of mundane relations. By analysing the treatment of sacrifice in each of these films, the paper makes a case for the significance of Menzel’s treatment of sacrifice for current philosophical debates.

Jiří Menzel’s treatment of sacrifice

Ethics & Bioethics

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{"article-title":"Jiří Menzel\u2019s treatment of sacrifice"}

The paper explores the philosophical treatment of sacrifice in four of Jiří Menzel’s films of the 1960’s, Closely observed trains (Ostře sledované vlaky),...

Jiří Menzel’s treatment of sacrifice

Published Online: Dec 11, 2019

Page range: 208 - 220

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2019-0018

Keywords
Jiří Menzel, Czech New Wave, sacrifice, mundane life

© 2019 Daniel Brennan, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Jiří Menzel’s treatment of sacrifice

Published Online: Dec 11, 2019

Page range: 208 - 220

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2019-0018

KeywordsJiří Menzel, Czech New Wave, sacrifice, mundane life

© 2019 Daniel Brennan, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Jiří Menzel, Czech New Wave, sacrifice, mundane life