The Barnabas Kos Case (Peter Solan)
1964 Second Run Blu ray
Barnabas Kos plays the triangle in the Bratislavia symphony orchestra. He’s a loyal and busy communist whose volunteer military duties mean he’s frequently dashing in late to rehearsals, and having done so, rushing out again. ‘Dvorak had a great feel for the triangle.’ he says in defence of the wrongly assumed insignificance of its role in music. But Kos doesn’t want to hang around after his triangle moment. The conductor disagrees, provoking tension between the individual and the collective. This is exacerbated when the amazed Kos receives a letter saying he’s been given the job of music director.
Kos admits that he doesn’t have the experience or knowledge to do the job. His peers at the orchestra ridicule him. But the higher ups of the state have rewarded his incompetence, modesty and invisibility. Having been given such bureaucratic power Kos wants to assert the importance of the triangle that has been suppressed for hundreds of years. Kos proclaims that ‘anyone who’d be against the triangle would be against all the beautiful and progressive things we’ve created.’ He becomes dictatorial; rearranges the orchestra; has a composer included more triangle moments in his work and demands a concerto to be written for triangle and orchestra.
The Barnabas Kos Case is a subtle and witty satire directed by Peter Solan and adapted from the 1954 short story of Peter Karvas.
The script was worked on for almost 10 years before the film was officially approved to be made.
Images of triangles abound in the film – even the staircase to the director’s office has them. How meaningful is its symbolism?
“The modern triangle is eponymously named after the triangle, though one of the angles is left open with the ends of the bar not quite touching. This opening is used to keep the instrument from having a definite pitch, creating many rich overtones.” (Wikipedia)
That allowance for a left open angle suggests, that when struck, the triangle offers a way of escape, a means to pitch its sound indefinitely. Be free, in its small way, to express itself: the humility of the overtones able to disrupt larger orchestral sounds and power structures. Be disruptive. A David versus Goliath.
Glass is employed as a barrier to communication in the film. The glass between Barnabas and the post office clerk as he first attempts to return the acceptance letter; the glass screen sealing off the authoritarian class from being approached by those who protest at Barnabas’s appointment and the light, designed as a glass eye, over the bathroom door of the official who wrote the letter.
These visual felicities are as restrained as the casually delivered and barbed dialogue. The Barnabas Kos Case feels very much like the theatre of the absurd and reminded me of the insistent madness of the plays of Ionesco, behind which lie the fables of Kafka. At the beginning I felt that the story was in danger of becoming an anecdote unable to sustain feature film length. However Karvas and Solan milk the triangle obsession to great effect. And aided by a splendid performance from Josef Kemr as Kos I was entranced by a film both deadly serious and deadly silly.
The Barnabas Kos Case is a Slovak oddity still retaining its power to disturb and entertain.
Alan Price©2024.
The Barnabas Kos Case (Peter Solan)
1964 Second Run Blu ray
Barnabas Kos plays the triangle in the Bratislavia symphony orchestra. He’s a loyal and busy communist whose volunteer military duties mean he’s frequently dashing in late to rehearsals, and having done so, rushing out again. ‘Dvorak had a great feel for the triangle.’ he says in defence of the wrongly assumed insignificance of its role in music. But Kos doesn’t want to hang around after his triangle moment. The conductor disagrees, provoking tension between the individual and the collective. This is exacerbated when the amazed Kos receives a letter saying he’s been given the job of music director.
Kos admits that he doesn’t have the experience or knowledge to do the job. His peers at the orchestra ridicule him. But the higher ups of the state have rewarded his incompetence, modesty and invisibility. Having been given such bureaucratic power Kos wants to assert the importance of the triangle that has been suppressed for hundreds of years. Kos proclaims that ‘anyone who’d be against the triangle would be against all the beautiful and progressive things we’ve created.’ He becomes dictatorial; rearranges the orchestra; has a composer included more triangle moments in his work and demands a concerto to be written for triangle and orchestra.
The Barnabas Kos Case is a subtle and witty satire directed by Peter Solan and adapted from the 1954 short story of Peter Karvas.
The script was worked on for almost 10 years before the film was officially approved to be made.
Images of triangles abound in the film – even the staircase to the director’s office has them. How meaningful is its symbolism?
“The modern triangle is eponymously named after the triangle, though one of the angles is left open with the ends of the bar not quite touching. This opening is used to keep the instrument from having a definite pitch, creating many rich overtones.” (Wikipedia)
That allowance for a left open angle suggests, that when struck, the triangle offers a way of escape, a means to pitch its sound indefinitely. Be free, in its small way, to express itself: the humility of the overtones able to disrupt larger orchestral sounds and power structures. Be disruptive. A David versus Goliath.
Glass is employed as a barrier to communication in the film. The glass between Barnabas and the post office clerk as he first attempts to return the acceptance letter; the glass screen sealing off the authoritarian class from being approached by those who protest at Barnabas’s appointment and the light, designed as a glass eye, over the bathroom door of the official who wrote the letter.
These visual felicities are as restrained as the casually delivered and barbed dialogue. The Barnabas Kos Case feels very much like the theatre of the absurd and reminded me of the insistent madness of the plays of Ionesco, behind which lie the fables of Kafka. At the beginning I felt that the story was in danger of becoming an anecdote unable to sustain feature film length. However Karvas and Solan milk the triangle obsession to great effect. And aided by a splendid performance from Josef Kemr as Kos I was entranced by a film both deadly serious and deadly silly.
The Barnabas Kos Case is a Slovak oddity still retaining its power to disturb and entertain.
Alan Price©2024.
By Alan Price • film, year 2025 • Tags: Alan Price, film