NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Second Run Blu-ray (June 2019): Second Run have given Case for a Rookie Hangman (Prípad pro zacínajícího kata) a Blu-ray edition from a brand new 4K restoration of the film from original materials by the Czech National Film Archive.  

A screen prefaces the presentation stating: "The restoration was done by the Hungarian Filmlab in Budapest, under the supervision of the National Film Archive, in 2015. The source for the digitization were film materials stored in the National Film Archive in Prague. The image was digitized from the original negative and the sound from duplicate positives. The goal of the digital restoration was to be able to present the film in such a way, so that it could be seen and heard as an audience would have experienced it at the time of its creation in 1970. As a result, various features that originated from the shooting of the film or its laboratory processing have been preserved and are representative of the technologies and creative approaches of the time."

It looks wonderful, as evidence by the screen captures below. Contrast is beautifully rendered and detail is impressive. There are a few cue-blips but otherwise the image quality is pristine - and it looks excellent in-motion.

NOTE: We have added 33 more large resolution Second Run Blu-ray captures for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE.

Second Run transfer the audio via a linear PCM 2.0 channel mono track (16-bit) in the original Czech language. Dialogue is clean and clear - there is a score by Lubos Fiser (Valerie and Her Week of Wonders) that sounds flat but with a modicum of depth. Second Run add full, optional, English subtitles (for narration, text and dialogue) on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

 Supplements include 'The Projection Booth' podcast with Mike White, Kat Ellinger, Kevin Heffernan and Peter Hames (author of The Czechoslovak New Wave) running to the film giving excellent insights including the commentary on modern Czech society in the film, the importance of doors in the film, many of the themes, and the prosaic statement that "If Franz Kafka and Jonathan Swift had a baby it would be this film". Hames was in the latter third sounding like he may have been on the telephone - he hints at this release. I thought it was incredibly informative running almost the full length of the film. It should be noted that it is not a screen specific commentary and was recorded before this Second Run Blu-ray was planned revealing spoiler details (if that's possible). Also included is the 40-minute Pavel Jurácek + Jan Schmidt film "Josef Kilián" (Postava k podpírání, 1963 - released on Second Run DVD and reviewed HERE): presented from a brand new 4K restoration of the film from original materials by the Czech National Film Archive. It is about a man borrows a cat and when he goes back to return it, the place where he got it is no longer there. The film follows his search. There are two additional short films written by Pavel Jurácek and directed by Jan Schmidt: 1959's Cars Without a Home (Auta bez domova) running shy of 7-miniutes and 1961's Black and White Sylva (Cernobílá Sylva) a fantasy, comedy running almost 1/2 hour. There is a trailer and a 24-page liner notes booklet featuring new writing on the film (the "Key to Determining Pavel Jurácek") by our favorite Czech new wave film historian Michael Brooke.

Case for a Rookie Hangman is a brilliantly layered film evoking the surrealism of Jean Cocteau's "Orpheus" with stunning, Tarkovsky-esque, cinematography by Jan Kalis, wrapped in a child-like dream of political bureaucracy and governmental suppression. The 4K restoration of this rarely seen, desirable, film on Blu-ray with in-depth Podcast and shorts is a must-own for cinephiles.

Gary Tooze