Milos Forman

February 10, 1997

Forman, a survivor of the ill-fated Czech New Wave of the 1960's, has gone on to direct some of America's greatest cinema classics. Born in Caslav, Czechoslovakia on February 18, 1932, he gained considerable attention in his native homeland during the 60's, with two Oscar Nominated pictures (Loves of a Blonde (1965), The Fireman's Ball (1968)). He moved to the United States after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. His first feature in America was the brilliant satiric look at American lifestyles, Taking Off (1971). It gained huge critical praise, if not financial success.

It was not until 1975 however that Forman reached a mass audience, with the stunning adaptation of Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a story about life in a insane asylum. The film earned Forman his first Academy award. He continued to solidify his reputation in the US with these recent triumphs, each one different in style and substance:

Hair (1979), a film version of the popular 1960's stage musical.
Ragtime (1981), a series of historical vignettes that connect the lives of various people in Pre-WWI America.
Amadeus (1984), a sumptuous look at the life of Mozart, which earned Forman a second Oscar, as well as seven others to the picture.
Valmont (1989), the most recent film version of the scandalous 18th-century novel, Les Liasons Dangereuses.

Forman has a strange knack for capturing the esscence of alienation of strangers in a strange land in his films. That theme is still held up today in his recent film work, the controversial The People vs. Larry Flynt. This film takes a look at the outrageous life of Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and has recently become a huge topic of debate.

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