The firemen's ball (1967)

It's hard not to interpret the The firemen's ball as a subversive movie. Even though this movie is about the fire department of some small town in which the 86:th birthday of one retired fire chief is celebrated with a big ball, it is easy to pick up political themes. Most of all, it's a fun film about shabby facades, greed and the impossibility of seeing things for what they really are. Actually, this is a wonderfully funny film. Milos Foreman does a great job in presenting these old-timers who have worked in the fire department all their lives and now they want to honor their colleague, whatever it takes. There is to be a lottery, a beauty contest, and the beauty queen is to hand over the present (which is, of course, a hatchet). Everything goes to hell, but the most important task for the old-timers is to make it seem like everything is in order. The segment of the film in which a jury comprising elderly gentlemen do their best to compile a beauty contest line-up is a comic gem.