Miloš Forman

Lore & Background

Miloš Forman's childhood was marked by the early loss of his parents. During the Nazi occupation, his father Rudolf Forman, a member of the Czech Resistance, was arrested for distributing banned books and reportedly died from typhus in Mittelbau-Dora in May 1944; another version has it that he died there during interrogation. His mother Anna was murdered in Auschwitz in March 1943. Forman later discovered that his biological father was the Jewish architect Otto Kohn, a Holocaust survivor, making him a half-brother of mathematician Joseph J. Kohn. He was raised by two uncles and family friends. In his youth, he wanted to become a theatrical producer, and after attending grammar school in Náchod, he went to the King George boarding school in Poděbrady, where fellow students included Václav Havel and future film-makers Ivan Passer and Jerzy Skolimowski. He later studied screenwriting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and was an assistant to Alfréd Radok.

Forman's first important production was Audition, a documentary about competing singers. His 1967 film The Firemen's Ball, an original Czechoslovak–Italian co-production and his first color film, was seen by film scholars and Czechoslovak authorities as a biting satire on Eastern European Communism. It was initially shown in theatres during the Prague Spring but was later banned after the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion. Forman was in Paris negotiating the production of his first American film during the Prague Spring; his Czech studio fired him, claiming he was out of the country illegally, forcing him to emigrate to the United States. He moved to New York, where he later became a professor of film at Columbia University in 1978 and co-chair of its film department. He regularly collaborated with cinematographer Miroslav Ondříček.

Forman's first American film, Taking Off (1971), shared the Grand Prix at Cannes but was critically panned and left him struggling to find work. Despite this, producers Michael Douglas and Saul Zaentz hired him to direct One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), which won Oscars in the five most important categories. He followed with Hair (1979), Ragtime (1981), and Amadeus (1984), which won eight Oscars. Later films included Valmont (1989), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), and Man on the Moon (1999).

Reader's Guide

Miloš Forman's significance lies in his transition from a leading figure of the Czechoslovak New Wave to a celebrated American director. His early work, such as Black Peter and Loves of a Blonde, helped define the Czechoslovak New Wave, while The Firemen's Ball became a landmark satire of Communism, leading to its ban and his forced exile. In the United States, he achieved critical and commercial success with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, both of which won him Academy Awards for Best Director and were inducted into the National Film Registry. His films often explored themes of individuality versus authority, and his casting was noted for drawing strong performances. Despite the failure of Taking Off, his later works like The People vs. Larry Flynt and Man on the Moon continued to garner attention. His legacy includes mentoring future director James Mangold at Columbia University and influencing film through his distinctive narrative style.

Did You Know?

• Forman's mother was murdered in Auschwitz in March 1943, and his father reportedly died from typhus in Mittelbau-Dora in May 1944.
• He later discovered his biological father was the Jewish architect Otto Kohn, making him a half-brother of mathematician Joseph J. Kohn.
• The Firemen's Ball was banned in Czechoslovakia after the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion; the term 'zhasnout' from the film was later used to describe asset stripping in the 1990s.
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus are two of only three films to win Oscars in the five most important categories.