kratkyfilm.com: The fortress in the setting of the landscape gives an impression of a den or a detention colony of Kafka’s fiction. The watch-towers, barbed-wire-fencing, severe guarding, all that in all-prevailin feeling of strangeness and mystery provoke fear. Immediately, the question will arise, what is it that is so strictly guarded. We witness the absurdity as expressed by Franz Kafka, and the nonsensicality of the bureaucratic and the barracklike spiritlessness as ridiculed by Jaroslav Hasek in his soldier Svejk. The story takes place in the second half of the eighties. The regime of power is tired, but any changes are out of sight. Some people are trying to find their asylum in their privacy, some defect. Who is not willing to get adapted, lives at the outskirts of the society. Read More »
Miroslav Donutil
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Drahomira Vihanova – Pevnost aka The Fortress (1994)
1991-2000ArthouseCzech RepublicDrahomira VihanovaDrama -
Vera Chytilová – Dedictvi aneb Kurvahosigutntag AKA The Inheritance or Fuckoffguysgoodday (1992)
1991-2000ComedyCzech RepublicDramaVera ChytilováA hillbilly inherits millions and goes to the city, leaving his village to live a rich man’s life in post communist Czech Republic.Read More »
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Vladimír Morávek – Nuda v Brne AKA Bored in Brno AKA Boredom in Brno (2003)
2001-2010ComedyCzech RepublicVladimír MorávekQuote:
A biting comedy concerning the lives of two young people who meet one day in a house in Brno in order to put their ideals of love into practice. A story about a couple not yet prepared for sexual life and a renowned actor no longer in his sexual prime.Read More » -
Kveto Hecko & Michal Ruttkay & Vladimir Stric – Iba den AKA Only a Day (1989)
1981-1990DramaKveto HeckoMichal RuttkaySlovakiaVladimir StricA joint work of three debuting directors. It is a film about former rock musicians, members of a banned rock band. The friends were forced to replace their ideals by settled family lives and ordinary jobs. When their former lead singer has to go to hospital for therapy, they get an unexpected opportunity to play together again and recall the old times. The day when all needs to be arranged for the performance is full of small lies, compromises, and morally doubtful decisions.Read More »
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Vera Chytilová – Pasti, pasti, pasticky AKA Traps (1998)
Arthouse1991-2000ComedyCzech RepublicVera ChytilováFrom starburstmagazine
For anyone feeling a little squeamish, of vegetarian inclination or just full from a hearty meal, the graphic opening scenes of Traps (or Pasti, Pasti, Pasticky to give its original title) that feature pig castration may prove a little difficult to stomach. These images also feel burned into your retina somehow; a poignant, pre-emptive piece of filmmaking that becomes disturbingly relevant later in the film. For Czech new wave director Vera Chytilovà, filmmaking was a mission. She became a dominant force in the industry and was often described as a militant feminist, although she preferred the term individualist. Traps bears many of the hallmarks that justify both these labels, and even now remains both boldly ambitious and deeply flawed.Read More »