Karel Kachyna

  • Karel Kachyna – Prace AKA Slingboy (1960)

    Karel Kachyna1951-1960Czech RepublicDramaWar
    Prace (1960)
    Prace (1960)

    A touching story of a Czech boy who is liberated from a concentration camp and then picked up by a Czechoslovak Army laundry unit under Soviet command. He becomes the unit’s mascot, and is given the nickname “prace” or “slingshot bearer” after Czech boys who had fought with slingshots in the Czech Hussite armies of the 15th century. The boy, along with a little Slovak girl whom the unit also rescues up along the way, participate in the liberation of his homeland.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 »

  • Karel Kachyna – Závrat AKA Vertigo (1963)

    Karel Kachyna1961-1970Czech RepublicDrama
    Závrat (1963)
    Závrat (1963)

    Psychological study of Jitka, daughter of a widower. The girl helps her father run a small hotel. A group of geologists is staying at the hotel and Jitka falls in love with one of them, Gaba. However he regards her as only a child, goes out on the town every night and doesn’t think about her. She intercepts the phone calls of the women with whom Gaba has been involved and plays power games with him. His adventurous life means that Gaba also gets into trouble with his boss. It becomes increasingly clear to Gaba that Jitka’s feelings for him are true love. At first he rejects her – she is after all only a child – but gradually starts to feel more for her. However it is too late: Jitka goes to study in Prague and leaves the hotel. The power of the film is in its visual aesthetics. The emptiness of the landscape, accentuated by impressive drilling rigs, is beautifully expressed by the cinemascope format and the high-contrast black & white. This serves to make the loneliness of the characters overwhelming.Read More »

  • Karel Kachyna – Kocár do Vídne AKA Coach to Vienna (1966)

    Karel Kachyna1961-1970ArthouseCzech RepublicDrama

    A WW2 story of a young Austrian soldier running from the Russian army and a woman whom he forces to come along in order to save his wounded mate.Read More »

  • Karel Kachyna – Ucho AKA The Ear (1970)

    1961-1970Czech RepublicDramaKarel KachynaThriller

    Quote:
    Karel Kachyna’s 1970 The Ear is a harrowing tale that interweaves marital discord and surveillance paranoia. With its portrait of a government functionary who spends a sleepless night wondering if he’ll be arrested before daybreak, it’s no wonder that The Ear had to wait until 1989 for its Czech premiere; the wonder is that it was made at all. The latter, at least, can be explained by the fact that Kachyna’s long-time collaborator, scenarist Jan Procházka, was a government official of some standing – which accounts, no doubt, for The Ear’s insider perspective, playing as it does with the couple’s knowledge of which rooms in their comfortable house are likely bugged and which aren’t.Read More »

  • Karel Kachyna – Láska (1973)

    1971-1980Czech RepublicDramaKarel KachynaRomance

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Quote:
    Své milostné okouzlení prožívají nejen mladičtí hrdinové filmu šestnáctiletý Petr a stejně stará dívka Andrea, ale i jejich rodiče, kteří se po letech znovu setkali. Rádoby poetické ladění je však místy násilné stejně jako střídání barvy s černobílými pasážemi. Láska patří mezi Kachyňova normalizační díla, která postrádají osobitost, nahrazuje ji křečovitou stylizací, která postihuje všechny složky filmu.Read More »

  • Karel Kachyna – Blazni a devcatka (1988)

    1981-1990ArthouseCzech RepublicDramaKarel Kachyna

    Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    A ballad set in Žižkov about people both small and big, and those lost and found.Read More »

Back to top button