Story of a man who, at the end of the 1940s, attempted to cross the Czechoslovak border illegally like many others to escape the communist regime and became a victim of the historically documented game of the security forces of the totalitarian regime, the so-called Kameny action. The project of the Miroslav Ondříček Film Academy in Písek is the debut of screenwriter and director Martin Kopp.
Two young, inexperienced students, dissatisfied with the demands of their teachers and the mentoring of their parents, try to cross illegally into the country - but because they are headed for friendly Poland, nothing happens to them. The story is set in the early 1960s and depicts the heyday of café bands. The two protagonists admire one such band, which plays jazz, misses school and wants to radically change their current life, which they find grey...
Luděk Krejza, a tile-layer, returns from prison after serving time for manslaughter. In a retrospective, the viewer is introduced to his story. It is a not very well-known film, which with the passage of time has completely disappeared from the awareness of even the more deeply informed interested in domestic cinema. The song "Dudes, you're on" is sung by the Yo Yo Band.
College student Marta decides to seal her relationship with Zdeněk with a secret wedding. All that remains is to announce this fact to both parents. The bride's parents are a very interesting couple - the strict mother, a teacher, is a big stickler for order, the father, whom the tender half affectionately calls "daddy", doesn't bother with anything and spends his time composing poems. The groom's parents are currently most concerned with how to get their daughter Marcela married in the most favorable way possible, whose idol in life is the singer Jiří Korn.
A story about the problems of an aging high school history professor, Barchánek, and his teenage son. Barchánek teaches at a technical school in the same class as his son Honza. However, he is not very impressed by his father's position at the school and his generous and understanding attitude towards the youth. Barchánek is unable to punish with bad grades. Honza is ashamed of his father and defies him. Both are thus put to the test – the son and the father, and his easily vulnerable goodness and belief in the responsibility of the rising generation, which must be understood and trusted...
When Standa is released from jail, he feels a brighter future is about to take hold. Instead, his bad luck grows, thanks to a new acquaintance.
In the frontier village Vetrov boys from the children's home called Indians lead a bitter "war" with the local Símáks. Before a battle the Indians have a meeting in the sandpit with a smoke signaling. The smoke brings to the sandpit a frontier guard Tomás with a police dog Ranek. The children learn from Tomás that Rank served out and that it shall be destroyed. The nine-year old Fanda writes a letter to the "minister of the frontier guards" in which he asks to let Ranek live. To save Ranek's life he also visits the local frontier guard commander. In the end it is decided that children from the children's home may keep Ranek.
Christmas is approaching and with it comes moments of surprising events and unexpected encounters. For example, such as those experienced by two inseparable friends and bachelors. Saša is looking forward to finally enjoying life and also really forces Karel to go to entertainment venues. But everything changes by chance, because when Karel moves, he discovers that his first love Eva, whom he once lost due to his indecision, lives on the floor above. The meeting on Christmas Eve turns out to be fateful...
It's Christmas and divorced Eva is preparing a Christmas Eve dinner in her lonely house on the border. She is expecting her son, a soldier Zdeněk, and her daughter Jiřina with her child and her husband František. The preparations are disrupted by the unexpected arrival of her ex-husband Josef. But Eva doesn't want the children to find their father at her place, so she kicks him out of the house... But twenty-five years of life cannot be erased so easily, and past grievances suddenly have less weight. Josef returns and this time the doorbell rings. And perhaps the Christmas Eve meeting will become an opportunity for forgiveness and a new beginning...
It is a film consisting of six short stories, which mostly tell in a black humorous, ironic, often bitterly bitter form about an ancient curse, human infidelity, strange deviations, an unexpected miracle and hypocritical forgiveness. They have their own pointed structure, specific atmosphere and way of processing, and yet they pass on motives to each other that communicate with each other and observe the same things from different angles.
Dorota, a bad woman married the miller, out of sheer greed drives him to death. She then took the mill away from his son Peter and threw him out of the hime. Lucifer, who is known to rule in hell, sends out the devil Janek. He is supposed to fetch Dorota because the measure of her earthly sins is overflowing. But the devil himself can not handle this evil woman and flees to the military. There he meets Peter. By joining forces, they finally succeed in transporting the wicked Dorota to hell. Since then hell is hell. But for Peter, who is suddenly in possession of a magic mantle, begins a nice time, because strangely, the prince shows great interest in him.
A WW I veteran still haunted by his time in the trenches settles in a small town to work for the railroad company. His pretty wife attracts the attention of the lonely young gravedigger.
The urn supposedly containing the remains of Alice's grandfather falls out of the window and breaks. To Alice's great surprise, the urn is empty and the girl learns that the grandfather didn't die but disappeared under mysterious circumstances on the 2nd September 1946 in the town of Telc. Her grandmother claims that a mysterious young man with dark glasses was implicated in her husband disappearance. Alice is determined to solve the mystery. Grandmother's story leads Alice to a shoemaker who hands her Professor Jeník's - her grandfather's - invention, called the Force-fields Accelerator. Alice tells her boyfriend Petr about the device and the young man creates a time machine following the professor's instructions. The young couple then travel back to 1946 and there they indeed meet Alice's grandfather, and his daughter Blanka, who will later be Alice's mother.
In an abandoned apartment there are former spouses. Barricaded, the husband, thus, trying to escape from the criminals who hunt for compromising photos. But the ex-wife is there not by chance — she is the mistress of one of the kidnappers. But with an unusual date, the former feelings take over, the lovers decide to deceive the bandits and go on the run.
Nineteen-year-old Pavel Kříž spends all his free time in Prague's arcades, bistros and discos with a group of thieves called Roby. Pavel has a high school diploma, but works as a window cleaner, and a large part of his income comes from the scams, scams and thefts of Roby's crew, to whom he supplies guaranteed tips. So he's not too happy when the cleaning manager assigns him a young temp, Jana Hálková. Although the girl makes no secret of her distaste for Pavel's way of life, a fragile emotional bond develops between them. But this cannot last in the environment in which Pavel moves. The young man gets into more and more trouble - part of Roby's party is caught by the police and he cannot find the money to pay back the debt. The situation escalates when a group of thieves kidnap Jana...
The story, written by former George Stransky former political prisoners and today's chairman Pen Club is situated to 50 years and uranium camp of political prisoners in Pribram, where after the fall of the Stalinist cult comes at the end of 1958 as a prisoner of the former Chief of Main Administration of correctional facilities Colonel Good. Former chief topic of coexistence, "a guard" and political prisoners in the Bolshevik camp served timeless makers to reflect on the possibility (or impossibility) of forgiveness and a sense of justice. The film, unfortunately, below expectations - mainly because of its rarity and lack syžetovou arching dramatic arc of the story, including natural gradation. Nice camera and vice versa are cast, formed literally myriad of top Czech actors. A representative of one of the main roles - Jiri Schmitzer in 1997 was awarded the Czech Lion.
A young man from a poor proletarian family successfully graduates from university, meets a girl who grew up in an orphanage - and surprises his surroundings, greedy relatives and a friend from a rich bourgeois family, by refusing any benefits. He regularly visits his parents to help them build their house, trying to act honestly at all times.
In the royal castle lives a haughty, parading and domineering princess. She torments the servants and perhaps would still be tormenting them with her whims if the mysterious Lord of the Wind with his magic crests had not appeared in the castle. A lascivious youth uses their charms to punish the proud princess and win the affections of a sweet girl.
Psychological comedy about extremely jealous husband.
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 desperate masked robber holds a betting-shop clerk at gunpoint, and when a well-meaning young bystander intervenes, he’s tragically shot dead. Investigators race to connect three critical threads: the killer’s weapons expertise, the commonplace mask he uses, and his intimate knowledge of the crime scene to unmask him before he strikes again.
The nurse Helga meets Baltic nobleman Arno when he's wounded in the Russo-Finnish war. They have a short but passionate affair before Arno is called back to the front and dies. Helga has a daughter, Dorli, as a result of the affair and they have to struggle to survive after the Red Army wins the war.
This Czechoslovakian children’s film takes place during the last days of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The young son of a horse trainer loves nothing more than riding his horse, until he is stricken by polio…
In 1757, the second year of the Seven Years' War, Frederick II the Great stands at the gates of Prague. He has been trying to take the city for weeks, as the enemy commander Duke Charles of Lorraine is inside. Frederick has just defeated him, but the tide could soon turn against the Prussians, as new Austrian troops are approaching. None other than the famous master thief Andreas Christian Käsebier is to sneak into Prague to open the gates from the inside. As a reward, the king promises him freedom. Käsebier accepts the offer because he is tempted to steal an entire city. But by chance, Käsebier learns that the king wants to betray him. After a successful battle, he is put back behind bars for life. This doesn't suit the master thief at all, especially as he has just fallen in love with Katka in Prague.
Lovers & Murderers is about the ongoing war between those who have and those who want to have what the others have. The have-nots see themselves as poor victims trying to get for themselves what is justly theirs. But when the have-nots become haves, they continue to see themselves as victims of the hordes baying for what is justly theirs, and they have neither the energy nor the security to enjoy what they have obtained. The movie takes place in the microcosm of a small apartment building. The principal goal of the young people who share rooms in the building is to move into their own room and, some day, a real apartment. They scheme to get what they're after: form short-lived alliances, petition, frighten, marry, become pregnant, anything that might work. Lovers & Murderers presents Páral's vision of mankind caught in a cyclical process in which ideology pales before the pettiness, cruelty, and self-justification of human nature.
After a few months at the spa, 14-year-old Pavel discovers that his love, his classmate Zuzana, has outgrown him. In addition, she has found a new boy classmate, who is nicknamed Eifelák because of his height. This is a big shock for Pavel and like a proper teenager he is very worried, he invents blood feuds which usually turn against him, in short he is completely distraught. His problems and suffering are understood more by his grandfather than by his busy parents. But the right patch for the wound is found in the form of another girl whom Pavel meets by chance and who is very special...
The king raised two unbearable daughters—Princesses Jája and Anýzka. He no longer knows what to do with them. Perhaps the only solution is to send them to the charming witch Halíbela for re-education! She won't coddle them! But her son Elixír claims that almighty love can change them for the better more than witchcraft. And so he ends up making a bet with Halíbela...
A New Year's Eve television variety show from late 1979.
During World War II, dogs were trained in special centres for guard duty in concentration camps. However, one of the prisoners domesticates a female German Shepherd, which saves his life during his escape.
The teenage hero tries his best to meet the nomination limit for important races, but his coach's insensitive approach causes him to temporarily lose motivation and even give up on sports...
Tomáš, an unscrupulous Prague taxi driver who is involved in stealing antiques and smuggling them abroad, lives with his devoted mistress, but he is always thinking of his destined love, Kamila, who has emigrated to Switzerland. It is for her that he plans a robbery of a rare stamp, which he convinces his naive brothers to commit. The seemingly simple theft goes wrong and almost ends in the death of an innocent man. The planned escape across the border, in which a slick Swiss businessman plays a key role, also fails...
During a royal hunt, the young prince is injured under strange circumstances, and his father, the king, falls from a high cliff and dies. The young princess Klára cleverly but persistently questions Prince Vilém about what actually happened during the hunt. When she refuses Wilhelm's offer to take the throne in place of the prince and princess for the time being, she and her injured brother are thrown into a dark tower. However, strange spirits appear here—the courageous Elizabeth, who heals the prince and helps him regain his memory, and the handsome Conrad, with whom the princess secretly falls in love...
Energetic Jana comes from Děčín to the metropolis for the Spartakiada, but her shy sister Anna is secretly going with her, looking for an opportunity to apologize to her boy Ondrej.
The holidays of Vince Adamek, a student of the agricultural school in his native village in South Moravia, are purely working. He likes his job as a zootechnician so much that he seems to turn down an assistant position at the university...
When Vojtěch Hynais, who lived in Paris in the 1880s, received an offer to paint the curtain for the National Theater, he accepted it. However, his modern concept for that time was not accepted by the academically rigid commission. He did not depict the required figures from Czech history, but rather an artist kissed by the Muse. Although he completed the work, he was never paid for his work on the largest curtain in Austria-Hungary. Author Martin Šafránek very sensitively uncovered the issue of moral failure at the cost of material benefits on the one hand and the courage to risk these values to the point of self-destruction on the other. Director Jiří Strach, who made his debut with this work in 1998, cast Radek Holub and Klára Issová in the leading roles.
The late summer of 1918. Paul, Willi and Heinrich from an age-old German town are good friends, although there is a great deal that divides them. Heinrich comes from an officer's family with an army tradition and is preparing to enter cadet college. Paul's father and grandfather are workers, and Willi, left to depend on himself, works as a hotel messenger. The last year of the war is hard for everyone, but while Paul and Willi know their own minds and do not hesitate to help the war fugitives Tony and Sepp, for Heinrich everything is more complicated.
Clumsy as an elephant and long as a perch, one day she becomes Princess Felicia, called Feliška. Who's involved? The wicked and envious witch Vranimura, who does not wish the princess a handsome noble groom and bewitches Felice's feet. Thanks to her witchcraft skills, Vranimura charms the prince for a while, but brave Feliška is not so easily deprived of her beloved suitor...
The fisherman Fuksa fishes in the creek an old bottle and he sells it to innkeeper Merta. When Merta opens it, a genie appears, who can fulfill all his wishes.
A gritty behind-the-scenes look at modern work slavery through Vladimír, a Ukrainian construction worker in Prague whose life unravels when Czech professor Richard marries Vladimír’s love Aljoňa to “help” her. Consumed by jealousy and desperation after losing his earnings, Vladimír commits a desperate crime.
On the night it happened, Aleš Berka was celebrating his 50th birthday. A successful, mature man at the peak of his powers. Congratulations, gifts, a happy mistress, a healthy son. The fact that one of the guests had an accident at an intersection on his way home from the party was just a minor blemish on an otherwise perfect evening. The local underworld boss, Radek Máša, immediately called Aleš and asked him to cover up the accident, as always. The district police chief, Aleš Berka, promised to do so, as always. But in the morning, he learned that Marta, the girl who was driving the car, was lying in agony in the hospital and that she was the love of his son Ríša. Ríša believes unconditionally that his father, the district police chief, will do everything in his power to find and punish the culprit of the traffic accident who fled the scene...
Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Rimini, there lived a beautiful princess named Nicoletta, who ruled alongside her older brother Riccardo after the death of their parents. This cheerful and witty princess, though wise for her age, foolishly fell in love with a song about the perfect and universally admired King of Salerno. Riccardo, like a loving brother, went to offer her hand to the king, regardless of what he thought of the idea. However, the proud king, spoiled by his mother, insultingly rejected her, saying that she was not worthy of his beauty, but he did not know that Nicoletta's other qualities included stubbornness and determination.
The district town is reeling from the murder of a well-known local businesswoman. She was found dead one morning, dressed in a revealing costume in a dentist's office. The investigation is entrusted to a pair of detectives, Commissioner Petr Brouček and Commissioner Jaroslav Falta. It is up to them to solve this complex case, which involves a number of well-known local figures and revolves around a local luxury gentlemen's club.
Milan has already achieved a respectable career, holding an important position as a sales representative in Morocco and living the life of an exclusive diplomat. Dana enjoys herself with her lover and, in her "spare time," naturally torments Milan. A marital quarrel at the most inopportune moment during an important business visit causes their premature departure, and Milan, who caused Dana numerous injuries in the heat of the moment, is hospitalized in a psychiatric ward. Dana naturally takes advantage of his mental shock and, with the help of her maid Bohunka and a weak-willed head physician, regains absolute control over Milan. However, a young psychologist named Táňa is also doing her internship at the sanatorium, and she immediately takes a liking to the intelligent patient…
Crime thriller inspired by the story of Jiri Kajinek, which is considered the first bounty hunter in the Czech Republic. Thanks to his escape from the prison fortress Mirov it became a legend and the most wanted man in Europe. Five weeks while eluding the police, is still shrouded in mystery. Kajínek Film is a powerful story of the most famous prisoner int the Czech Republic in our story of double murder, the story of lawyer looking for new evidence, the story of the underworld and its penetration into the government and handling of the story. George is a victim of conspiracy or Kajínek cold-blooded killer? Trying to prove his innocence or to intimidate and influence witnesses?
Blazenka likes to imagine she is on a desolate island and has to find a way how to survive. After the death of her mother she stays together with her baby brother and has to take care of the family. In this difficult situation, she plays this role-game that helps her to deal with the sudden loss of her mother.
A dramatic episode from the life of Czech philologist and historian Josef Dobrovský, a leading figure of the national revival.
Story about fate, and their fatal consequences.
Even a small child knows that people go to hell for their bad deeds—especially if the devils are targeting evil, envious, exploitative, greedy, and lazy people... Of course, everyone thinks that this applies to everyone else, that they themselves are not really that bad, and, most importantly, that they have plenty of time to improve. Of course, the desire to improve is the first step in the right direction, but Vašek, the hero of our fairy tale, doesn't even have that desire. He quite likes his lazy nature. And why wouldn't he, when his parents, and even his sweetheart Andulka, can't do anything but complain and sigh and hope that maybe one day... The offer of help comes from a completely unexpected source—Beelzebub himself, the chief prince of all devils and she-devils, takes Vašek to hell for a year to re-educate him. Of course, this isn't for free, and there's a nasty trick hidden in it.
Director's memoirs of his childhood in a lively tenement house, in particular one hot summer day in 1949 when all tenants gathered to celebrate the wedding of the landlord's daughter. Small details slowly reveal that the narrator's recollection of the events may not be altogether correct.
A detective fairy tale about a mysterious robbery and somewhat confusing courtship.
The inner drama of Jiří Mánka, a forty-year-old cashier at Živnostenská banka, who has artistic talent, both musical and painterly. After his experiences on the battlefields of World War I, he chose a job that provides him with a very good livelihood, but does not satisfy his ambitions. He lives alone with his mother and gets along well with his brother Teodor, with whom he shares a love of music. Jiří's life is shaken up by a chance encounter with a young, attractive girl named Adéla, with whom he feels relaxed and rejuvenated, at least at first...
The story is based on Operation Stone, during which State Security agents deliberately misled citizens of the Czechoslovak Republic who were attempting to leave the country illegally by creating fake borders and fake border patrols and interrogation teams from American, German, and French authorities. During interrogations, State Security officers convinced detainees that they had actually crossed the state border of our republic and obtained information from unsuspecting people, which was then used in criminal proceedings.
In the middle of the pasture stands an old oak tree intertwined with a plane tree. Bětka, who grazes sheep, calls it the apple oak. It is her favorite place. It is as if her mother, whom both she and her father miss so much, is watching her from the tree's crown. And it is here that Bětka meets a young prince for whom military glory is the most important thing in the world. Although he likes the shepherdess, he sends her father to prison for his grumbling and aversion to senseless military conquests. He says he will release him when someone defeats him, the prince. Desperate, Bětka seeks solace at the apple oak tree, where she suddenly receives not only a miraculous caress, but also advice. She will be helped by someone whose head is fiery like an autumn tree, half gold and half scarlet...
The secret that has been hidden for eighteen years in an old tower deep in the woods is known only to the fairy Daphne. Only she knows that, thanks to her help, a small child who was supposed to die at the will of an evil queen grew up to become a prince and heir to the throne. What will the current Queen Groselis do about the threat posed by her unexpected rival? How will the prince deal with his love for the girl Johana, and will he even be able to live in the human world without the magical protection of the miraculous shell? These questions are answered in a fairy tale called The Sorceress.
At the age of twenty-eight, Karel Havlíček Borovský is at the height of his fame and political influence. He owns the largest Czech newspaper, is widely known, admired by all, and financially secure. He has a beautiful young wife, Julie, and his future seems to be firmly in his hands. Slowly, however, a hostile, anonymous gray machinery of the state apparatus begins to take effect around him. Its embodiment is Havlíček's close friend Wagner, who is one of his admirers, but at the same time, he is also a secret police officer, a loyal representative of state power. The higher Havlíček's star rises, the longer...
NON PLUS ULTRAS is a comedy with a social subtext. It takes a satirical look at a short stretch in the life of five "fans" of one Prague football club who belong to the hardcore supporters - ultras or hooligans. The gang members' lives revolve around football. They revere their "world-famous" English counterparts and uncritically take them as their role models. The undeclared leader of the gang is Bejcak (played by David Novotny), a charismatic young man of around 30 years old with natural authority. He is not stupid; he likes to use foreign words, but always in a slightly unsuitable context. The oldest member of the gang is the lonely forty-year-old Tycka (Vladimir Dlouhy), whom Bejcak took under the gang's wing. Tycka is much older than the others. The stuttering youth Pejsek (Karel Zima) is a fanatic lover of all things "English". He is seconded by the none-too-bright Potapec (Michal Novotny) and the agile, wiry Vocko (Matej Hadek), who is constantly devising new loutish exploits.
Capturing the dark humor of Czech author Michal Viewegh's chronicle of life after the Velvet Revolution, this black comedy chronicles three decades in the life of a small Czech family. While the original novel centered on the protagonist Kvido from his conception through his adulthood, first time director Petr Nikolaev and screenwriter Jan Novak changed the focus to his parents Milena, an extremely self-effacing lawyer who acts on stage in her spare time, and Ales, a rather aimless government worker who tends to drift wherever the wind takes him. The lives of Ales and Milena change dramatically following the Russian invasion of Prague in 1968.
Story of Sergio Rodriguez, commissar of an International Battalion in the Spanish Civil War
At the beginning of this detective story, the body of Martin Horák, owner of a car repair shop, is found in a bathtub. The police eventually close the case as a suicide. However, detective Pavel Vondra is not convinced and begins to unravel the threads of this initially seemingly clear case of an accident...
Police find a girl with a bleeding face in a small town park at night. First the girl, a textile factory worker Jana, refuses to talk, and then she decides to tell the truth. After her father's death she, by herself, takes care of her younger brother called Pinda. She does not like the influence that a gang of older boys from the factory exercise over her brother. The gang leader Jirka, called King, is admire by local girls whose number exceeds boys in the town because there are many textile factories where only girls are working. They easily yield to him and then he easily gets rid of them. Jana is a hard nut for him. She refuses his purposeful courtesy and thus she unintentionally gets his attention. King inspires the gang on how to get money by stealing textile from the factory warehouse.
Boccaccio's famous Decameron brings ten beautiful stories that were told to pass the time by those who escaped from certain death from Florence when the plague spread there in 1348. The four medieval stories were adapted by director Zdeněk Zelenka as a television love cycle. The director entrusted the main role in this comedy to Viktor Preiss. His horse trader is married, but he likes to arrange rendezvous with various women on his travels. It is no wonder that he becomes the target of jokes from his pub buddies, during various escapades he ends up among murderers and in the tomb of a rich nobleman, but he manages to resolve all situations with humor.
The year 1968 came and went, and the world—at least for us—began to change dramatically. Few people expected the change to be so great and so bad. Dark premonitions are slowly coming true, and everyone must live through their own. Even Lukáš Knapp, a twenty-year-old singer and the driving force behind the rock band Klub osamělých srdcí (Club of Lonely Hearts). A young man at the peak of his youthful self-confidence, who has no doubts about the correctness of his thoughts and feelings, who feels no need to compromise with the times, who wants to live in truth and despises lies, begins to slide down a spiral that spares no one and nothing. Not even the music he plays and worships. It is truly a story from a time that was not worth much, but which cost many of the young people of that time everything. It was a time that brought even rebels and free spirits, such as rock musicians undoubtedly are, to the edge of their true inner courage, but also their humanity.
The stories of all the characters are linked to the fate of a media-successful married couple. The film is an account of life in a Central European metropolis, from which humanity and spiritual values are disappearing as a result of a hasty lifestyle. Vera and Daniel's marriage has been deadlocked for a long time, Vera is at the end of her career as an actress and Daniel prefers to hang out with younger girls than with his own wife. In addition, a young Macedonian woman, Liana, enters their family and Vera finds a part of herself in her. Parallel to Vera and Daniel, Eva, a nurse, and Martin, a designer, are looking for a place in life.