A young waitress, Dana, works in a roadside motel. She longs for the big, distant world, for beautiful things, and perhaps even for love. But her life is filled with various short-term relationships, her lover is a passing truck driver, a rich, elderly stranger, and random acquaintances who give her gifts. The girl does nothing to fulfill her dreams. Coincidence brings a group of students to the motel, and one of them, Martin, takes a liking to the waitress. A relationship develops that could perhaps lead to sincere love, to the fulfillment of her wish for a new life...
Short film made by Bretislav Pojar
Short movie by Bretislav Pojar
A telephone mechanic secretly pursues his passion for hunting, deceiving his wife and enlisting friends to cover for him. After a successful hunt, he mistakenly climbs onto the wrong balcony and is apprehended by police, but his disguise prevents identification, leading everyone, including his wife and friends, to deny it’s him.
A comedy about a charming con artist who decisively intervenes in the life of a wealthy industrialist and his entire family. Influential businessman Compass announces at home that it is high time for his nineteen-year-old daughter to get married. He leaves the choice of a suitable partner up to her...
Detective Lieutenant Boruvka (Lubomír Lipský) is called to the State Scientific Library to investigate the loss of a precious manuscript, the Infernal Psalter of the Occult Sciences by Master Peregrinus from the eleventh century, written in a secret script which has only recently been deciphered by senior lecturer Zajíc (Josef Chvalina). Chaos is reigning in the labyrinth of passages and halls of the former monastery where the library is housed. In order to save space the director of the library has introduced a peculiar system. The books are arranged in the bookcases according to height and six girls dressed in black, the library assistants, are quite happy to cut volumes down to size in case of need. Boruvka refuses the case, since he is specialist in murders. He has to return to the investigation, however, when senior lecturer Zajíc disappears.
This futuristic science fiction comedy features an atomic bomb blast that causes women to grow beards and lose the ability to have children. A summit meeting is held at the United Nations, with the proposed solution of building a time machine. The decision is made to travel back in time and murder Einstein, with the hopeful result being that without the noted mathematician's research there will be no atomic bombs.
A Christmas comedy-fairy tale in which Prince Leopold and Princess Josephine defy fate by vowing never to marry. When a time-travel adventure to the future goes awry, they must fight for their lives and their kingdom, only to discover, as in all fairy tales, that destiny has other plans.
The 50th anniversary of the Barrandov studios was celebrated with a spectacular show: many directors and other important people gathered in the expensive decorations of the Variety Theatre auditorium (built for the Circus Humberto series). They smiled and showed well-deserved relaxation after a job well done in managing socialist cinema. Vladimir Sís interspersed this with excerpts from films, mainly his own and also a little of others who had worked on the "Hill of Dreams".
The heroes of this absurd comedy, full of confusion and humor are Dzharda Zemanek and Frantisek Liska.
Slacker Maurice Fadinar wasted his whole inheritance and the only way out of this situation, as it seems, to marry Helen Nonankur - daughter of a wealthy farmer. At the last meeting with his mistress in a nearby forest Fadinar's horse eats straw hat which belongs to a married lady, spending time in the company of young and hot Lieutenant Emil. Emil literally puts a knife to Maurice throat - or the lady will get back the exact same hat immediately, or he will arrange such a scandal that no wedding will not happen ...
In this kingdom there is something wrong. The Queen is plagued by hypochondria, Karolínka is a spoiled princess and her mentor is sneaky and calculating.
In the loose sequel to the fairy-tale comedy "How about a wedding, prince?" you will meet again with Prince David and his wife Běla. Both are looking forward to the baby that is about to be born to them. Prince David wants a son, the heir to the throne, and when a little girl purrs in the cradle, he cannot accept it. It will take him a while to take his daughter under his wing.
Jealous of her vapidly "good" sister's popularity, poisonous Viktoria doses pretty Klara's tea with a slow-acting fatal substance. As the latter grows hysterically weak, the former finds success increasingly compromised by guilt, blackmail, and the pesky need to kill others lest she be exposed.
This comedy is about one average family. The father works as master in the factory and his son is studying on high school. One day father must start to visit the evening school. It's the same school as his son visiting. The lives both students are connecting together. The son must teach the math and physics his own father. The father getting to know, that the life of the students is not simple as he supposed.
A good king rules this land, but still things are going from bad to worse. The point is that the greedy Minister of State has an interesting pact with the Devil — for bringing the kingdom into a state of dire poverty and the king to hell, he himself would sit on the throne. And he would have been well nigh successful, were it not for Princess Annie, Filip and magic Apolena — because true love cannot be quelled even by the Devil's machinations.
Mr. Novak tells a lie to his neighbor Mrs. Bartackova that her husband is unfaithful to her and that is how it all started.
JZD Hořičky is one of the best cooperatives in the district. Its chairman, who knows how to get advice and money wherever he can, is supported by the district secretary - even at the expense of others. The cooperatives will reject high state honours as undeserved... An unconvincing attempt at a critical film from the present day.
An insight into the lives of adolescents, it is about an ordinary boy who falls in love with a student. But soon he faces a serious rival in the form of a local seducer...
In Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, a doctor-turned-warehouse employee reluctantly agrees to treat a gravely wounded political fugitive, putting himself and everyone living in his building complex in danger.
Two short stories by Karel Čintamani a ptáci An avid collector of carpets, MUDr. Vitásek discovers a unique piece in Mrs. Severýnová's junk shop - a Persian carpet with a pattern of birds. As a connoisseur, he knows that there are only three of these carpets in existence and they are all owned by different monarchs. Severyn has no idea how rare it is, but the carpet is not for sale. It was saved by the wealthy widow Zanelli, who travels all over the world and rarely visits Prague. Vitásek confides in his lawyer friend Bimbal and with his help tries to retrieve the rare piece. Tales of a marriage fraudster The police headquarters is on high alert as marriage frauds proliferate. The hallmark of the culprit is violin playing and gold teeth. Inspector Pigeon of the train service eventually apprehends the fraudster, Vincent Plichta. The serious criminal doesn't resist arrest, he just bills the costs and goes to serve his sentence. After a while, marriage fraud is reported again.
It is almost twenty years after the war. Wounds of the past that have never fully healed, but are still carried by many in their hearts. Marie Vláčilová, a survivor of one of the prison camps in Germany, also carries the traumas of the time with her. Now, so many years later, a mass grave of prisoners from that camp has been found and investigators visit Marie to get any information they can from her about the camp. With her important information, she is then to become a crown witness for the prosecution in Germany and now prepares to travel. But this brings back more and more unpleasant memories - especially of her daughter Paula, who has been through German re-education and hardly knew her mother after the reunion...
Konvalinka, a notorious betting man, has become the scourge of the establishment. He can turn anything into a bet. During one such bet, when he is not ashamed to take advantage of the manager to win, he is noticed by the owner's brother, Bohus, who is visiting a friend. After finding out who Konvalinka really is, he decides to shake the bettor down. Since he works as the manager of a small South Bohemian pub, he sets up a big operation to punish Konvalinka. He is seconded in this plan by his cougar father-in-law and Bohouš's St. Bernard son Pepa.
Twelve graduates of one year of DAMU decide to go to the regional theatre together. During the first season, the enthusiastic collective breaks up and only five remain, determined to continue.
Láda Pitras (Ludek Sobota) and Oto Vacák (Petr Nározný) founded in the company Pragokov a Research department of recruitment of labor. For recruitment of workers in professions sought after both recruiters worked out an effective, often almost illegal methods. They followed secretly for instance the welder Niederle and managed to record his lovesick courting to his colleague Anicka. The fear of his jealous wife made him to join Pragokov.
A fairy tale about a kingdom where the clever and wise must be given an "extra cog" so that the stupid can rule and steal. Prince Louis, however, manages to use the extra wheelbarrow brilliantly and outsmart the fools and thieves.
A host of actors in the classic national fairy tale by A. Jirásek. Jirásek's "Lucerna" is the best-known and most performed of his plays. It was also used by television producers. In the second half of the 1960s, a successful transcription was created with a remarkably well-captured atmosphere of the realistic-fairytale motif of the original. The film captures the acting mastery of Jan Pivec in the role of the castle's headmaster, the musicians played by Bohuš Záhorský and Vladimír Menšík, Zdeněk Štěpánek and Josef Kemr in the roles of the watermen Ivan and Michal. The television version of Lucerna premiered on Christmas Eve 1967, and each rerun only confirms that it is an excellent production.
A young Czech couple are terrorized by their funny family.
This three-part Austrian/Czech comedy stretches the boundaries of what is considered to be humorous. Part one finds a silent film actor upset because of a rival actor's attention to the former's wife. When he kills his rival, it is only when he is strapped to the electric chair that he realizes that this is his last live scene. The second episode has the wife of an elderly British nobleman having an affair with the young gamekeeper of their estate. Part three finds a peasant woman taking a lover when her husband goes off to fight the war.
A tram pasted with posters travels through Prague. The mounted loudspeakers invite passers-by to a series of concerts of Giuseppe Verdi's masterpieces. On the tram a party of young people is getting drunk.
A contemporary tragicomedy from a modern city about disintegration of relationship, disintegration of a marriage, and maybe also about the disappearance of basic rules from decent life. A very black comedy about people in their 40ies who already have money, but still listen to rock and roll, exchanging drugs for mobile phones.
A man comes to a small village to begin his new job as an attendant at the nearby castle. But everybody in the village claims that he surely must be mistaken, there is no need for an attendant at the castle.
Black comedy about a genius inventor and two young, smart and beautiful women. Both of them putting all their effort into getting the one man. This will inevitable lead to all sorts of mischief, crime and even a murder. This murder-comedy, shot at the dawn of normalization has intentionally broke off from any connection to the reality of its time. The director Zdeněk Podskalský has focused on creating intriguing story lines, revolving around the two endeavouring female characters who are fighting for the same man. Two competing parties are not only ready to kill the other, but also (if necessary) the potential groom. This film has enabled the members of the cast, composed mainly of the brightest stars of the Czech acting scene of that time, to show an incredible acting range, from the lightest comedy to the darkest cynical morbidity.
Juraj, a Slovak artist living in Prague, takes stock in his life, realizing that his days pass without purpose. He lives a carefree life. But now he has to choose between two women, between the city and the country, and between creative work and craftsmanship. He has a passion for art but he also has to make a living. Through his relationships with close people, he grows aware of his position and this knowledge helps him to live a more fulfilling and better life.
Comedy based on short Sean O'Casey play. John Jo Mulligan finds himself in a situation with which his pious conscience cannot cope. He has spent a night with the cunning seductress Angela. Full of remorse and dreading the ruin of his reputation, he tries to get rid of her, fearing that his pal Halibut or his landlady Miss Mossie might get to know. Angela sees her chance, turns gold-digger and does not leave before relieving John of a considerable amount of money.
In the 1950s, Ludvik Jahn was expelled from the Communist Party and the University by his fellow students, because of a politically incorrect note he sent to his girlfriend. Fifteen years later, he tries to get his revenge by seducing Helena, the wife of one of his accusers.
Slovak director Karpatti arrives in Prague to make a name for himself. He has brought all his belongings with him, as he can no longer show his face in Bratislava. Meanwhile, on the roof of an apartment building in Pankrác, Hrubeš and Mareš spit from the seventeenth floor, planning to become important film professionals and longing for love. Then Mareš's grandmother dies, Hrubeš is kicked out of his house by his father, and eleven terminally ill patients do not die. Václav Hrubeš meets President Klaus, and Josef Mareš finds a girlfriend, but for money. At the end, the power goes out for ten minutes throughout Prague 4, and Viliam Karpatti receives an award at the Jihlava Film Festival. It rains for the entire last ten minutes of the film, and planes hover over Prague like phantoms.
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.
An actor called Šnajdr is given an opportunity to make his debut as a director. He doesn’t think twice about leaving Prague and dashing off to Olomouc, where he is met by the grumpy director of the town’s cultural centre and his eccentric grandma, who is to be the star of his production and who's perfectly attuned to his sense of humour and mystification… A bittersweet comedy directed by Miroslav Krobot and starring Pavel Šimčík and Iva Janžurová.
The film is essentially a feature-length commercial for an exhibition to mark the 40th anniversary of the nationalisation of the Czechoslovak film industry, to be held at the Prague U Hybernu venue. The protagonists of the piece are comedians Oldrich Kaiser and Jirí Lábus, who are set to accept an award from Japanese television representatives at the exhibition. At the same time, five gangsters plot to seize a revolutionary invention devised by professor Suzuki - a super holograph, which enables any figure from television to be transported in the flesh into the real world, and vice-versa.
A little-known adaptation of Jaroslav Vrchlický's play is returning to the television screen, full of humorous plots, telling the story of the courage of two women in love who, because of their love, infiltrated Karlštejn Castle, where women are forbidden to enter by order of the monarch. It was created with a number of star actors eight years before the now legendary film adaptation by Zdeněk Podskalský. When it premiered in 1965, it aroused a stormy, positive and negative response. Quite naturally, because Filip's concept of this classic play, albeit in the authentic setting of Karlštejn Castle, was completely new and unconventional at the time. This adaptation of the classic original uses the melodies of popular Czech and foreign hits with lyrics by P. Kopta. For example, the ruler's arrival at the castle was announced by the melody of the popular song Jó, třešné zrály. However, professional singers mostly sing for the actors here.
In 1900, Stepha, the vivacious 30 year old daughter of a wealthy couple, agrees to marry her cousin Paul, who has accumulated large debts as an Austrian army officer. Paul refuses to work or to consummate the marriage, and then his health steadily declines.
Two friends set out on a journey from Ostrava to Prague to claim a winning lottery ticket — but they're not the only ones looking to cash in.
The story of an entrepreneur who wants to bankrupt his company in an "honest" way. To ensure that everything goes smoothly, he deliberately hires people whom he believes are completely and utterly incompetent for the job. It turns out to be a brilliant move. Unfortunately, however, only until they start to succeed. And so begins an exhausting battle with idiots... But who is who?
The story of the clever Princess Diana, who longs to know true love and faces many obstacles, aims to captivate audiences of all generations. Diana mysteriously loses her former beauty and tries to regain it. She also encounters much humiliation, ridicule and anger along the way. But courage and her miraculous sensitive nose help her overcome all obstacles and fulfill her greatest dream.
Ordinary man making his dirty actions in the small town and his coming to the right side.
'The Magic Voice of a Rebel' portrays the story of the Czech singer Marta Kubisová, who without never intending it, became a symbol of freedom for all generations in the newly free Czhecoslovakia in 1989. It is Marta herself who tells us her life story and how the Soviet invasion in Czechoslvakia in 1968 changed her life. Because of her deep involvement in the Prague Spring movement, she went from being the most popular singer in the country to being banned and suffering a sudden removal from the public scene by the new authorities imposed from Moscow. She refused to escape to exile and together with other banned intelectuals and artists became a disident instead. Blacklisted and persecuted by the secret police, she also suffered the betrayal of beloved people who were collaborating with the regime.
There was a school. And one day, a parrot named Bořivoj came to the school and got all the A's for himself. The children - the pupils - can't just leave it like that, so Eva and Petr set off to the mysterious exotic land of parrots. Climbing, repeating old truths, chasing grades without regard to real knowledge and understanding - simply parroting - that's what the authors try to denounce in this musical comedy with humorous exaggeration.
A veristic investigation into life at a boarding school for girls on the Czech-Polish border. The austere black and white camera captures everyday moments, the work in the factory and the students' leisure activities. The inner world of the female protagonists is presented in a stylized commentary read by Iva Janžurová. For political reasons, the film was shown in cinemas under the name of cameraman Přemysl Prokop.
For the Novák and Bartáček families, money is king, and they'll do just about anything to get it. While René Novák pitches his parents a lucrative scheme to swindle as many people with the last name Novák in the country as possible, the Bartáček clan decides to pretend to be much poorer than they really are in order to siphon some dollars from an American relative. And it doesn't take long before these separate scams start to intertwine.
Documentary about Barrandov studios.
A Czech-French existential tragicomedy. Its (anti)hero is a young man named Andrej (played by Filip Topol, leader of the Czech underground band Psí vojáci). The story turns on his fateful love for the powerfully attractive though superficial Kristyna (Markéta Hrubesová).
Game Hubač George, honored at Golden Prague 1977 and the MTF Monte Carlo 1978, one of the most original works of Czech Television production. The dramatic story of a father, son and entire family addresses a serious social problem that brings with it dangers of alcoholism.
Three friends - Tomás, Hubert and Jozka - are boys growing up in a little town. Tomás lives with his aunt Apolena and uncle Václav. Tomás is a boy with lots of ideas that often end up getting him into trouble not only with his teachers and aunt, but with the other inhabitants of the town as well. He has a crush on his schoolmate Blanka and for her sake he decides to try to get the prize for the best pupil in the school.
A comedy about two bumbling policemen investigating an alleged rape in a small Czech town. One of the alleged rapists is supposed to get married the day he's locked up.
Princess Terezka was a girl like a pod until the moment when Mrs. Madam took over her upbringing. The princess even cries from her etiquette. Famous doctors and their potions do not help. However, when Terezka is secretly taken from the castle by her beloved Tonek to her parents in a country cottage, her illness is over. The king promises that whoever finds Terezka and brings her back to the castle will get her hand in marriage and half the kingdom to go with it.
The young couple's search for the secret of their ancestors. Its roots are in the time when the worst crimes of the last century took place, connected with corruption, boundless greed, ruthlessness, with borderline manifestations of inhumanity, but also with an unlimited desire for power. Dramatic reflection of memory and time in a story from the present in the confrontation of the Czechoslovak context during the Slovak State (1939/1945).
After a soldier cuts off the arm of king's cousin, king decides to deactivate the army. Of course, generals don't like it at all and they try to kill the king. The assassin should be artificial body in the shape of actress Evelina Keleti and with brain of psychotic serial killer Fany Stubová. They also manage to kill king's astrologer Stuart Hampl, who warns the king. Accidentally, Hampl's brain is implanted into assassin's body, actress Keleti is killed and chaos begins.
A model Communist village is visited by a flying saucer.
Max and Sally, the heroes of popular Czech animated series are leaving the TV in order to become a regular boy and girl.
Gynecologist Michal is caught cheating and must deal with a tricky, almost classic, love triangle situation. In the comedy Catch the Doctor!, he will deal with it in several different ways. After his attempt to save his marriage does not go quite as planned, he returns to the beginning of the film, to the point of one decision, and starts over. Differently. A total of three times, viewers will return to the same place on the same day with the main character, and three times they will be amazed at what can happen.
It is the summer of 1968 and also in South Moravian Pálavice appear political clashes. The so far peacefully farming Unified farmers' cooperative starts splitting. Some of the farmers have found the cooperative called Vidrupa and want to deal with wine in private trade. Michal Janák, chairman of the farmers' cooperative is a deliberate man and refuses the latent return to the capitalism. As an excellent farmer he continues preparing planting out new vineyards. His adversaries do not agree - the returns will come many years later. Jozka Hrdlicka, an émigré, notices on the Austrian TV the interview with the representatives of Vidrupa and decides to visit his native village. The new suit and the hired car transform the bankrupt and criminal to the successful businessman with wine.
Princess Valerie is a bit spoiled and bossy. So when she sniffs the magic rose of the devil's grandmother, whom she had previously offended, she loses her voice. And this causes real hell for Valerie, because the lady-in-waiting pretends to be her spokesperson and passes off everything she herself wishes as the princess's opinions. On her advice, the king organizes a ball, to which the princess is to wear an ugly green dress that does not suit her, and to get Albino of the Capes, whom the lady-in-waiting has chosen for her, as her groom. When Valerie gets rid of her nasty nature and finds out who really loves her, the rose will certainly help to undo what she has done.
Two kind but foolish sisters live together in their villa in a small town in South Bohemia. Fany (Natasa Gollová) has never married and Andelka (Eva Svobodová) is a widow. In the morning, the two sisters go into town. They need to buy fuel oil, put money in the bank and give plums to the teller. In the meantime an smallish orange Skoda MB car parks at their house, with Hermínka (Iva Janzurová), the old ladies' niece, and her fiancé Michal (Jirí Hrzán) in it. Michal has forgotten to bring flowers and has to go into town to fetch them. At the bank, Fany wants to deposit money but the minute the teller opens the safe, a thief arrives. He knocks the teller and Fany unconscious and runs away with the money. When Fany comes to her senses again, she sees Michal and accuses him of being the thief.
This historical film by Hynek Bočan touches upon the indecisiveness of the Czech nation, ready to bend the backbone in face of foreign rule. Situating the story at the close of the Thirty Year War enabled the depiction of the misery of the people that affects even an impoverished aristocratic milieu. Rudolf Hrušínský appears here in the role of an indecisive knight, persuaded for a long time and in vain to join the anti-Habsburg movement. The story does not only captivate through the depiction of manifold human characters, intrigues and sycophancy, but also through the circumstances ruling over the devastated farmstead, sunk in mud and crudeness. One of the best films with an updating tendency has come into being here, rightly being named along the such greats as Kladivo na čarodějnice (Witches' Hammer).
The former reputed lover and bon vivant Petr Vok from Rožmberk was widowed at the age of sixty-three. The loss of his much younger wife is hard to bear and it seems that nothing in his life will please him anymore. His loyal friends and servants do everything possible and impossible to cheer him up, but sometimes interesting situations arise, such as when they get him a guaranteed real mermaid. Will anyone be able to cure the master of his lethargy?
Oldrich is the runt of his village, beaten by his father, bullied by the other boys. But he has imagination on his side, and a wiry toughness they can’t defeat. The village is in turmoil, because the Nazi occupiers have just retreated and the Red Army is advancing. Oldrich dodges amid the mayhem and panic, taking his share of blows but always managing to stay one step ahead. Beautifully shot and darkly ironic, Karel Kachyna’s forgotten masterpiece jumbles reality, memory and fantasy to capture the intensity and confusion of childhood in a war zone.
Marta (Jana Brejchová) and Viktor (Vlastimil Brodský) celebrate the tenth anniversary of their wedding half-heartedly. They both think they don't suit together. While visiting Marta's friend Alena (Iva Janzurová), who just got married for the third time, they learn an interesting thing. It was a computer which selected a husband for Alena and she claims she is happy. The couple gets off after certain hesitation to a cybernetic institute, where the computer tells them that living together is a risk for them. At the same time the computer selects them ideal partners - Mrs Tuchlová, a doctor for Viktor, and Petr Karát, a music composer for Marta. By a coincidence Viktor and Marta meet wrong people.
The drama called I Love, You Love was made in 1980 but because of the absurd ideological ban, the film entered cinemas nine years later. Pišta is an unmarried man who works at a freight wagon which carries letters and parcels. Alcohol helps him to overcome his handicap of being short and not good-looking. He wishes he had a woman, but the woman he really wants, ageing Viera who reloads the cargoes, has a soft spot for another man. So, Pišta has nobody and nothing, except for senile mother who sometimes fails to recognize him. The film received Silver Bear for Best Director at the International Film Festival in Berlin.
The story of two brothers separated by one woman. A top neurosurgeon mired in a vicious circle of surgeries, alcohol and amorous adventures and his hot-blooded brother, back from the Czech mission in Afghanistan, raising two daughters but losing his battle with debts and a return to normal life. And it's all run by their mother. Their fates are intertwined with other characters of colleagues, fellow soldiers, friends, but they all have something in common. Everyone is a bit of a bastard sometimes...
The last drop for Jan's resolution is the voluntary death of his father-in-law, whose strength and patience ran dry. Grandma made decisions about Grandpa's life, old age as well as the funeral. Jan is sure that he and his wife Olga are on the same route. He recalls his past life when he used to have his own will and dreams and he wants to live again with dignity and freedom. He longs to control his own life again. And his solution is escape from the present life. In this movie we watch, in parallel ,the fates of Jan's married daughters Olinka and Alenka and his sons-in-law Erik and Pepík.
Jarmila Kukačková commutes to a Prague hospital from the countryside, where she has been living for twenty years "on the sly" with Pepa Padrnos, a garbage dump worker, and his mother. Jarmila is a cleaner at the hospital, and everyone there calls her "Kukačka" (Cuckoo). Kukačko, go get this, Kukačko, bring that... What's more, Josef's mother, with whom Padrnos still lives, does not like Jarmila very much and makes this very clear. What kind of miraculous woman is she and how does she manage to be so kind and always smiling? Where does she get her energy from? How does she manage to live her life with such ease?
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
The director of films for kids called Bonzurka together with her loyal assistants Drahuska and Honza are looking for the actors for a new movie "The Knee". Children for this movie should not be afraid and shy and they must have talent for acting. Thus the scouting is quite difficult. The most difficult is to find an actress for a main character who lost her hair after a serious illness and now has to spent the whole holiday in the countryside with a bald head resembling a knee. Although the makeup artist does his best an artificial baldness does not solve anything. From the selected little girls only the self-assertive Rosemary has the guts to let her long hair to be cut and shave off her head.
Theodora Remundová’s documentary portrait looks at Iva Janžurová’s dramatic and comedic roles in both film and theater, as well as the roles she has played in her family and in social and political life. The director (Janžurová’s daughter) has created a film filled with the truthfulness, sincerity, and capacity for self-reflection of a woman who has devoted her life to acting. The use of clearly staged scenes is combined with an openly acknowledged effort to avoid the kinds of clichés usually found in biographical documentaries to create an organic whole that provides an overview of Janžurová’s pivotal roles while also sharing highly personal and intimate moments from her life. Vít Kořínek (kviff.com)
In the fairy tale comedy, a strange princess is born. She can be wound up like a mechanical toy. At first glance, this seems like a certain advantage, because if such a child is naughty, the parents simply won't wind them up. But when adolescence arrives and with it first love, it's not so simple. After all, Princess Marenka also had quite a few problems with her "peculiarity".
A loose sequel to the 1976 comedy Stormy Wine. The screenwriters and the director recreate on screen a number of characters from the South Moravian town of Pálavice, characterised by their different attitudes and approaches to work and private life. A number of serious issues touching on the times emerge around the story of the con man. The fundamental dispute between the vice-chairman Janák and the chairman of the merged cooperatives ing. Urban, as well as the satirical theme of illegal machinations and bribes, are undoubtedly of general validity.
This bittersweet film was Roman Vávra's feature debut. The film consists of three independent stories, all connected through the motif of a field of grain. In 'Awn' a young couple takes a summer stroll in the country, in 'The Haystack' a gang of boys have an adventure with an older girl, and 'The Journey' recounts the tragicomic homecoming of a pair of aging newlyweds. For only the second time in the nineties Czech star Iva Janzurová appeared on the silver screen.
Third wine session, this time with a computer. The film was made in direct relation to the audience success of the previous two: "Stormy Wine" and "Ripe Wine". In the comedy-oriented story, the computer is an important actor, around which all the events actually revolve. It is reliable, powerful, but unused. Its future lies in the hands of those who do not yet know how to use it.
Alfons is invited by his brother-in-law to his niece's wedding. The uncle arrives in his luxury car. However, the wedding guests ignore his anxious worries about the car and send him here for beer, there for cement. The uncle objects, but the energetic bridesmaid acts. The car suffers, and so does the uncle. When the wedding guests finally decide to go to the town hall, the car is almost impassable. However, the confusion is far from over...
To Moscow have arrived the participants of the international conference of the zoophilologists and also the international jury which is to elect for the world festival the best performance of the program of Moscow circus. Mrs Whistler (Iva Janzurová), British associate professor, makes her understood with the animals in their language but the Czech professor Ruzicka (Jirí Sovák), though he is capable of using the animals language, prefers teaching the animals the human language. Ruzicka's friend, the poodle Archibald, speaks "in Human" very well. The scientific dispute ends with a bet - if Ruzicka teaches the circus elephant to sing, Mrs Whistler will eat up her hat.
Three blue collar workers have a night out in big city Prague.
Three intrepid young men set off into an enchanted forest to free a captive girl. We can't reveal how their adventurous trip will turn out yet, but the names of the main characters in the fairy tale suggest that it will be a journey of joy rather than horror!
Fairy tales are full of fairies who would like to become humans. There probably won't be that many Hejkals who want to turn into humans. We only know of one from "The Doctor's Fairy Tale" who was pushed into the human world by the writer Karel Čapek. That Hejkal then found great success as a singer at the Vienna Opera. However, we recently learned that a Hejkal in South Bohemia is drawn to humans and wants to give up his Hejkal craft. Let's go see him.
Alice Nellis's small-scale debut tragicomedy spotlights small-town elections. The protagonist, a university student name Jana (Theodora Remundová) who is trying to solve a troubled relationship with a married man, takes her mother's place on the election commission. In the meantime the mother (Iva Janzurová) is going through her own small domestic crisis with her husband (Leos SucharÃpa). Thanks to excellent acting performances and restrained direction, the film convincingly outlines interpersonal relations and their light social overtones.
The hero, rushing from one misfortune to another, is former accountant Řehoř Maršíček, who after a heart attack, out of fear of death, decides to live a calm, moderate life and follow the principles of a healthy lifestyle. Not to smoke, not to drink, to exercise and eat healthily. He takes up the position of an auditor of patients and hopes that he will have peace in his new job. Instead, he experiences one nervous breakdown after another. He gradually makes one good resolution after another. Řehoř falls into unhealthy food, alcohol and women. In addition, he gradually loses most of his life's certainties, including a roof over his head. The result is a second heart attack, after which the hero promises himself again that he will fix everything and live a healthy life.
The husband and wife Ludva and Hedus Homolkas with their twins Péta and Máta and Ludva's parents - the granny and grandpa - arrive in the snowy Spindleruv Mlýn for a holiday. They promise to each other that they will not spoil the quite expensive holiday by quarrels. If somebody hurts the other one he/she will kneel as a punishment.
When Dr. Hahn is found murdered in the hospital’s inspection room, investigators question several suspects: his colleague and longtime lover Dr. Marie Nováková (whom he cheated on with nurse Jiřina), the nurse herself, Dr. Petera (whose career he stymied), a senile patient named Zima, and the inept clinic head. As police sift through truthful and deceptive testimonies, complex professional rivalries and personal entanglements among the hospital staff come to light.
Mária, a retired teacher, one fine day decides she no longer wants to feel like a cow, and when not even the mayor helps her against the arrogant source of local evil, she obtains a gun and resolves to do what most of us occasionally think of but immediately banish from our minds. Very soon, however, she discovers that just as murder is morally complex, it is equally complex logistically, despite her former pupil, now on probation, offering her this priceless life advice: “Crime only looks simple, Mrs. Teacher, but then something always goes to shit.”
A parody of operetta costumes, personas, old familiar situations with old familiar sandboxes and a happy ending.
Veronika is a cheerful, lively girl with great personal charm that few can resist. An animal lover, gifted with eloquence, she can blame all her mischief on her older brother and gets away with everything at home and at school. But one night, this overly trusting little girl runs away from home to meet a stranger who promised her a little puppy...
Magic and spells in the peaceful town of Jack-o'-lantern, which you will not find on any map. A funny story telling you how a magician's visit can turn his life back and how Ondra may have been fortunate enough. In the poetic fairy-tale grotesque, taking place in the non-existent town of Jack-o'-lantern, the time has stopped. The hands on the clocks show twelve minutes in twelve minutes, as if they were symbolically giving the last chance. Only the mysterious figure of Acrude knows how the story of the bluddy and the fate of his heroes will come. The well-known clairvoyant Heliodromus arrives in town. In front of school, the main hero of the story Ondra is acquainted with his daughter, Adelka...
Happily married for fifteen years, Zuzana finds out one day that her husband has been having an affair with another woman for a long time. Zuzana does not hesitate and decides to visit her daughter-in-law Lenka and make her an unconventional proposal - she suggests that she share the care of Jirka and turn him into a man for a change. Lenka finally agrees and both women introduce this new way of life to Jirka.
A story about the uproar caused by the arrival of a new, young and, by local standards, too energetic zookeeper in a village JZD. Her name is Maya Četná and one evening she arrives like a tornado on a motorbike in the semi-truck of a typical Czech village. The chairman, leaving the next day for a long-term training, has no time to get to know the girl properly, so it's no wonder he can't help wondering when she returns.
Surreal short animation about a clever girl with an amazing memory. Things go well for her until she can't remember facts about polar bears for a school project.
The protagonist is supposed to go to a graduation reunion and, because she is ashamed to reveal that she is still lonely and unmarried, she makes up a story that her husband was a Swede who came to the Czech Republic for assembly and that he died suddenly. She tries to fend off the prying classmates with a photograph of her "husband" with his colleagues from a newspaper article, where she accidentally shows a man. What a surprise the classmates experience, and what consternation she herself experiences, when the freshly deceased man in question suddenly appears at the spa where the incriminated alumni reunion is being held! And not only is he alive, he even speaks Czech suspiciously well...
Titus is unlucky in life. His handicap is his red hair, which prevents him from finding a job. He ends up in a brewery, where he claims to be the son of the owner. He is exiled under humiliating circumstances and ends up in a castle, where he starts a game of substitutions, which is materialized in disguises in various wigs. These wigs also allow Titus to rise socially, leading to a comical denouement...
A young and ambitious engineer named Švajcar arrives at the family of a businessman as the fiancé of the factory owner's daughter. He meets his father-in-law's brother Cyril, who pretends to be invisible. The family plays this game with him so that they don't have to put him in an institution.
Sometimes a person faces a difficult decision. Morality is on one scale, money is on the other. A theoretically easy equation for an honest man. But being poor as a church mouse and breaking your allegiance to help your loved ones is a dilemma. If I sell my morality, can it bring family happiness?
Jindra is a carefree young man, always surrounded by a bevy of girls. He has two small siblings, whom he has to take care of when his parents go abroad. But his little brother misses him, so Jindra tries to find a replacement for his mother. Unfortunately, he is unable to choose a girl from the crowd who would cheer his brother up. Finally, Jindra's manager Marie Mašková offers her help...
The servant Josef enters the seemingly peaceful household of the psychiatrist Jaroslav and his wife Žofie, a great lover of the theatre. He is supposed to serve the purpose of increasing the prestige of the family, but he is the true source of confusion and senseless actions. The household becomes a real madhouse. Friend Arthur advises how to get rid of the servant. He will have to be persuaded that Madame Sophie is a psychiatric case. But as we watch this mess, the question gradually arises - who is the madman here?
MUDr. Pěnička, an incorruptible and honest dentist, constantly has problems passing his driving test. In vain, his wife Boženka looked forward to a trip in a new car. Pěnička did not overcome his nervousness this time either and failed the driving test at the driving school again. When he is alone with an instructor behind the wheel, he drives like a top, but when someone else is sitting behind him, he is nervous and all his skills and knowledge are gone...
Little Jirka is at a new school for the first time and is immediately unlucky. When his classmate Ema's backpack goes missing from the school playground, Jirka is the main suspect. He gets a magic mirror when he gives an unknown woman a snack. Jirka becomes invisible and it is up to him how he uses this ability.
It all starts when two men arrive at the asylum. Mr. Houdek, who goes to see little Honzik Slavata, the illegitimate child of his colleague, whom he wants to adopt, and young Standa Hurych, who takes up a position as a driver. The pretty nurse Magda mistakes Standa for his father and is angered by his reaction. However, when Mrs. Houdková insists that the adoption will not take place until the child's true father is known, Standa offers to help Magda track down the father. He immediately sets about the difficult task.
After many years, Anka Lomnická, a former countess and emigrant, arrives in Prague. By chance, she finds herself seated next to two characters from a crime story that gradually unfolds around Bubeník, a former guard of political prisoners. With her spontaneity, Anka meets old and new faces, one of whom is Věra, the granddaughter of the former administrator of the Lomnický castle, and her boyfriend, a young detective named Přemek. When Bubeník is found shot dead with a gun in his hand, Přemek is not convinced it was suicide and begins to uncover the past not only of the dead man, but also of his potential father-in-law and his friends, former political prisoners. Gradually, a whole series of people appear whom the ruthless Bubeník hurt in his lifetime...
A dark and absurd road-movie comedy in which the grandmother fulfills a dream, the mother stops treating her daughters like kids, the daughters stop treating their husbands like idiots, and the father's ashes get spread all over the country.
After her mother's death, Lada lives alone with her father, the king, who prefers to spend time with the ladies of the court and has no time for his daughter. And when she protests, he decides to marry her off. So Lada runs away disguised as a boy to a neighboring kingdom. Lada – or Láďa – enters the service, that is, the kitchen, of the young king. And because the young king is celebrating his eighteenth birthday, Lada attends his ball...
The graduate of the pedagogical institute wants to get married at any cost in order to get a permanent residence in Prague. Her accidental partner agrees to the condition of an early divorce...
Just in time, Róza Riedlová returns from the grave to beneficially intervene in the life of timid Jana, who is full of doubts about everything and especially about herself. If Róza, that charming older lady, is a ghost at all, then she is definitely one of the kindest ones in our world. Otherwise, she would not be able to bring such wonderful order to human relationships, not only in Jana's family and at school, but everywhere she appears. An appealing comedy story that has won awards both at home and abroad. In 1995, a jury in Montevideo named it the best film for children, and in 1994, it won first prize in the children's film category at the Ota Hofman Festival in Ostrov, with Iva Janžurová winning the award for most likable adult actor for her role as Róza.
To win back his girlfriend after an unfortunate misunderstanding, a hopeless romantic decides to recreate grand gestures from famous movies.
Even the best of friends can fall apart, often all it takes is a minor misunderstanding. That's exactly what happened to two village friends, children finishing elementary school, between whom hostility and suspicion suddenly set in. The mosaic-like plot contains a number of humorous observations, but overall it distances itself from any ambition to deeply affect the mentality of adolescents, much less the countryside.
The pre-Christmas period in a household with four small, temperamental children creates a comedy in itself. But when problems with the password lock are added to the confusion, the fun is guaranteed. A busy father of a family buys one of these ingenious gadgets. This invention is supposed to make it impossible for his children to constantly search for Christmas presents. The tense atmosphere and the interplay of random circumstances mean that even trivial problems begin to take on completely different dimensions in the mother's eyes. The previously trusting wife interprets her husband's chess training, mysterious phone calls.... And to make matters worse, the father forgets the password to the lock. Everything culminates when the wife discovers a present under the tree that was probably intended for another woman. However, the mysteries are not solved until New Year's Eve, when - surprise surprise - the mother-in-law intervenes in the story.
A crazy comedy about what caused a passion for solving crossword puzzles. An insurance company representative writes a report with the Sluks about an accident that happened in their house. Mrs. Slavíková went shopping while her husband was filling a ten-liter pot with water that was on the stove. Mr. Kukačka stayed home, sick, and his wife went to visit relatives. But the husband used his illness to cover up his antics. Mrs. Sluková was doing a crossword puzzle and was looking for the word "seductress at six". She asked her husband to go borrow Mr. Slavík's crossword dictionary. Then Mr. Slavík's door slams shut, his pot of water overflows, and the gas goes out...
Twenty-year-old Karel is expelled from Bata's school of work and has no choice but to make his way in his uncle Kubát's publishing business at any cost. A very drastic adaptation of the draft has fundamentally changed the whole story, which is also set in a completely different historical context. The result was a schematic and tepidly propagandistic poster.
People in Czechoslovakia perceive the events of February 1948 differently. This movie tells how they behave depending on their views, beliefs and character.
Famous actor Bořivoj Vojan arrives unexpectedly at a student film festival in a small town. The smug, aging man has bruised his ribs on the way and his frustration deepens with every passing minute of his stay – the amateurish organization of the festival, the lousy food, the private accommodation with the confused grandmother Pánková. What's more, he has no idea that one of the most unpleasant encounters awaits him, with the local drunk journalist Merhautová. But there is also tension among the students who organize the festival – Míra is ambitious and promiscuous, Šárka is kind and naive, Jana is beautiful and manipulative, and Matyáš is perpetually stoned and childishly in love.
