Can a Fireman’s Ball Be Regarded as a Documentary?

Can A Fireman's Ball be regarded as a documentary?

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"A film whose narrative is derived from non-fiction and does not feature actors"

The ideas for this film came about purely by accident after Milos Forman and his co-writers had retired to the country to think of a proper follow-up film to Loves of a blonde. They decided to take the night off and go to the local Fireman's Ball and on the following evening they played cards with the firemen in this little town in the mountains. Using the time he spent with the firemen, he was able to bring a level of authenticity to the film.

"Most definitions delineate documentary as a nonfiction work. Instead of filmmakers conceiving the film's subject in their imaginations, they find the basis of their works in real life and real events."

"Instead of providing an outlet from the everyday world, documentary seeks to address our world and to educate us about it."

Tries to inform the viewer of life under the Socialist Government.

"Documentary subjects come from life, not from the imagination. The subjects chosen tend to possess some kind of cultural relevance, be it historical, social, or scientific."

"The word "documentary" is rooted in the earliest, anthropological use of film to "document" or record field work. Now, it can mean everything from a classic documentation of life in a remote part of the world to a filmmaker's personal exploration of any subject under the sun."

"Documentary subjects come from life, not from the imagination"

"A documentary is a work in a visual or auditory medium presenting political, scientific, social, or historical subjects in a factual and informative manner."

It is not a documentary in the traditional sense in that it is staged using scripts and is not outright informative.

From the beginning of Milos Forman's career we see the mixture of black humour and observations of everyday life used in his films. A Fireman's Ball has the same type of humour and is based on the lives of a small community and their fire department. All of the firemen seem to be unable to perform their jobs due to their lack of competence. Apart from the fact that the firemen all seem hopeless, the prizes from the raffle keep getting stolen, the beauty pageant is a failure, the old man's house gets burnt to the ground because the firemen can't shovel snow on the flames fast enough and all he gets is the useless raffle tickets, even although this seems dull or sad it is actually quite entertaining and hilarious in some parts. The viewer gets the impression that this could actually take place somewhere in the world and that the setting for the film is not taken entirely from imagination.

"Documentary subjects come from life, not from the imagination"

The ideas for this film came about purely by accident after Milos Forman and his co-writers had retired to the country to think of a proper follow-up film to Loves of a blonde. They decided to take the night off and go to the local Fireman's Ball and on the following evening they played cards with the firemen in this little town in the mountains. Using the time he spent with the firemen, he was able to bring a level of authenticity to the film. On the DVD version of A Fireman's Ball there is an interview with Milos Forman in which he tells the viewers of the first screening of the film. This took place in the town where the film was made ("Most documentary filmmakers