Taking to America: Miloš Forman's 'Taking Off' and Transnational Auteurism

• In Event: Czech Inflections in the American Films of Miloš Forman

Abstract

Although Miloš Forman’s first American film, "Taking Off," resulted in a commercial failure that prompted the Czech-native director to reevaluate his artistic approach, the film testifies for his early efforts of acquainting himself to American culture. This paper discusses the process of Forman researching American society in metropolitan New York in the years surrounding his rise to international fame and the seminal historical events of 1968. It considers the specificities of Forman’s background in Czechoslovakia in comparison to cases of other European auteurs basing their work on contemporaneous American matters, for example, Michealangelo Antonioni and his "Zabriskie Point."

Author

• Tanya Silverman, U of Michigan