Czech Republic

  • Frantisek Vlácil – Pasácek z doliny AKA The Little Shepherd Boy from the Valley (1983)

    1981-1990Czech RepublicDramaFrantisek Vlácil
    Pasácek z doliny (1983)
    Pasácek z doliny (1983)

    It is 1947 and the Beskydy Mountains still display traces of war. A ten-year old boy pastures a herd of cows in a meadow housing a damaged German tank. The little herdsman lives with his half-blind grandfather in a village poorhouse. His mother Kateřina, an apathetic and unhinged woman, works for the farmer Potocký. The boy has no father. He has got used to working from morning till evening and he never attended school. No one ever stands up for him, only Uncle Králík comes from time to time and brings him a gift. He also enjoys the love of his granddad who often tells him stories about the elf king and his treasure. In the meantime, two members of the troops supporting the Ukrainian nationalist Bandera, nicknamed Blondy and Beardy, have a deal with the village mayor that a sabotage group will pass through the village…Read More »

  • Zdenek Sirový – Finsky nuz AKA The Finnish Knife (1965)

    1961-1970ArthouseCzech RepublicDramaZdenek Sirový
    Finsky nuz (1965)
    Finsky nuz (1965)

    Summary:
    Director Zdeněk Sirový made his most important contribution to the Czechoslovak New Wave with the film Smuteční slavnost (Funeral Ceremonies, 1969). As a result, one of his earlier achievements, the intimate psychological drama Finský nůž (The Finnish Knife, 1965), has been somewhat overlooked. The main protagonists are two young men who have become convinced that they have killed someone in a fight that they unfortunately might have provoked. Twenty-year-old Tonda (Karel Meister) and seventeen-year-old Honza (Jaromír Hanzlík) flee from justice even before their guilt for the death has been determined. They make it to Poland but the tension between them mounts and after their return home they part ways… Besides the spectacular chiaroscuro in the camera work of Jan Čuřík, this intimate film offers a convincing testimony of a period wherein young people leading externally untroubled, purposeful lives were typically beset by deep internal fears and uncertainties about their place in life.Read More »

  • Jana Sevciková – Jakub (1992)

    1991-2000Czech RepublicDocumentaryJana Sevciková
    Jakub (1992)
    Jakub (1992)

    After second world war the people from Ruthenia’s Carpathian villages were promised a better life in Bohemia. Once settled down they felt like strangers at the new places, so memories and tales became very important reminding them of their old homes. One of these tales is about Jakub, a man who knew the bible by heart. This film follows his trace portraying the almost forgotten loss of those people who nowadays still feel without a home.Read More »

  • Slávek Horák – Domácí péce AKA Home Care (2015)

    Slávek Horák2011-2020Czech RepublicDrama
    Home Care (Domácí péče) (2015)
    Home Care (Domácí péče) (2015)

    Dedicated home care nurse Vlasta lives for her husband Lada, her daughter, and her patients. But then one day things change and Vlasta comes to realize that she might need some care too.Read More »

  • Bohdan Sláma – Divoké vcely AKA The Wild Bees (2001)

    2001-2010Bohdan SlámaComedyCzech RepublicDrama
    Divoké vcely (2001)
    Divoké vcely (2001)

    A portrait of a small Moravian village and its quirky inhabitants.Read More »

  • Karel Kachyna – Nadeje AKA The Hope (1964)

    Karel Kachyna1961-1970Czech RepublicDramaRomance
    Nadeje (1964)
    Nadeje (1964)

    Ignác Šavlíř, called Lucin, will try to steal another worker’s pocket from the pocket of a large gravel pit. He is caught, beaten up and thrown into the autumn mud. He is picked up by a randomly passing worker Magdalena and takes him to his house high on the land. Two losers start living together. Lucin was once a site master and driver, but immense drinking made him an assistant worker, a permanent debtor, and an occasional thief. Magdalena’s arms often served as a refuge for many workers for one night. But it wasn’t about money, she was more afraid of loneliness and longed for constant feeling and security. She is very clean and has a good influence on Lucin.Read More »

  • Oldrich Lipský – Marecku, podejte mi pero! AKA Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! (1976)

    Oldrich Lipsky1971-1980ComedyCultCzech Republic
    Marecku, podejte mi pero! (1976)
    Marecku, podejte mi pero! (1976)

    A factory producing agricultural machines is about to be thoroughly modernized. If he wants to keep his job, master craftsman Kroupa (Jirí Sovák) is going to have to improve his qualifications through further training and completing his school-leaving exams. Kroupa is persuaded to go back to school by his subordinates who fear that the unbearable Hujer (Václav Lohniský), who has already signed on for schooling, may get promoted and take Kroupa’s place. The students at the evening classes of the technical college are all middle-aged people. Even so, there are go-getters, shirkers and slobs among them just like in any other school.Read More »

  • Oldrich Lipský – ‘Ctyri vrazdy stací, drahousku’ AKA Four Murders Are Enough, Honey (1971)

    Oldrich Lipsky1971-1980ComedyCzech Republic
    'Ctyri vrazdy stací, drahousku' (1971)
    ‘Ctyri vrazdy stací, drahousku’ (1971)

    Two criminal gangs are ruthlessly fighting for a 1-million dollar check that, purely by chance, got into the flat of shy high school teacher George Camel. As the number of victims sharply increases, Camel is mistakenly regarded as a mass murderer and cunningly uses his horrifying reputation to get the respect and heart of his beloved Sabrina, a journalist from a local newspaper. But this game turns out to be risky and in the end, both gangs don’t hesitate to seize the check at all costs, including an improvised operation.Read More »

  • Oskar Reif – Postel AKA The Bed (1998)

    Oskar Reif1991-2000ArthouseCzech RepublicDrama

    Synopsis:
    ‘Forty-year old PE teacher Luboš Urna, is a man you’d be unlikely to notice on the street. He is completely average and unremarkable, with nothing interesting or special about him at first glance. Even his life up until now seems completely ordinary; that is, until the beginning of the film. For this is when Luboš, totally unexpectedly and it could be said needlessly, dies. The moment of Luboš’s death is actually the beginning of the story, which reveals how his whole life from birth, through growing up to adulthood was a constant battle to survive in a WORLD where REAL MEN are slowly disappearing and that is more and more dominated by ALL POWERFUL WOMEN. We follow our hero through humorous, dramatic, lyrical and erotic episodes in his life, in many of which it is unclear whether they actually took place or if they are just a product of his turbulent imagination. Both the hero and filmgoers will come to a surprising realization at the end of the film.’Read More »

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