“A bored housewife, a husband who married her for show, and a stupid boy who is full of himself because he is dating a Swiss woman.” The words of Inspector Tůma sound like they’re from a European melodrama, but in fact they come from a Czechoslovak crime story. A pair of detectives, counterfeit medicine, the high-society setting of a Karlovy Vary hotel, and Oldřich Nový as the aging hotel manager Kraus.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a charming comedy by W. Shakespeare, well-known from its numerous stage and film adaptations. In the course of one night, the world of real and fairy-tale characters collide, the king Theseus plans a wedding, the capricious king of the elves Oberon wants to punish his consort Titania, and above all, two couples of lovers, entwined by love, wander through the night. And few people notice that at the beginning of the comedy there is a threat - Egeus, Hermia's father, appeals to the king Theseus for his right. If his daughter does not want to marry the man he has chosen for her, he intends to send her to her death. And so it is only a good thing that Oberon and the elf Puck in his service stir up the feelings of Demetrius and Lysander with the help of a magic flower...
Prague, Czechoslovakia, during the inter-war period. Jan Dítě, a young and clever waiter who wants to become a millionaire, comes to the conclusion that to achieve his ambitious goal he must be diligent, listen and observe as much as he can, be always discreet and use what he learns to his own advantage; but the turbulent tides of history will continually stand in his way.
A comedy about exchange of 12 apartments , which, its organizer, lawyer Radosta, rightly called Action Ball Lightning. To prepare, organize and execute the exchange of twelve apartments is a work worthy champions. Radosta, who was excellently played by Rudolf Hrušínský, solved all sudden difficulties and complications on the fly and with grace. To be sure that the on the D-day everything goes well he prepares a little rehearsal, which reveals many minor issues caused for example by wedding ordered to inappropriate term or hesitation of some participants. Last but not least a night exercise announced by drunk psychologist Knotků, creates a lot of confusion that nearly sabotaged the whole operation.
A comedy concerning a down on his luck bookshop owner with a penchant for women who decides to make some money by pretending to be a waiter and collecting cash from unsuspecting diners.
Amadeus Macků, the village postman, is an incorrigible dreamer obsessed with the desire to fly. He invents and builds his own hovercrafts, making himself a thorn in the side of his hillbilly neighbours. The group of pub chatterers are particularly annoyed by the wooden runway that the stubborn postman builds for his next experiment. But the guileless weirdo catches the eye of the local doctor, who has an acquaintance with a slick doctor from the big city...
Petr, a printing apprentice, goes to a cottage with his classmate Hanka to learn more about technology. However, Hanka has other ideas about how to spend their time at the cottage. Petr breaks up with Hanka and on his way back from the cottage he meets a young woman who offers him a ride to Prague. Jana has just run away from her cottage to escape her husband and his friends. A pure relationship develops between this couple, despite their age and social differences. In his naivety, Petr wants to introduce Jana to his parents as his bride. However, he learns that she is married to Honza...
In a suburban villa, a woman of means is murdered. Police Superintendent Zdychynec from the Prague Liben neighborhood reports the case to Police Councilman Vacátko, upon whose order an investigation is launched immediately. Zdychynec begins to suspect the wooer of his own daughter, a handsome dragoon named Rudi, of the crime. In Rudi's absence, Zdychynec searches his rented room in the apartment of the elegant Mrs Dragicová. All his findings - among others, sand left on Rudi's jackboots and a decent amount of money in his bedside table - convince the superintendent that he is following the right lead, especially when Rudi refuses to say where he was at the time of the murder.
The main character of the story is a former biology teacher named Montelík, who ends up in court when he loses his temper and hits his former student, who is the son of a prominent family. The professor finds a kindred spirit during the trial in a young aspiring lawyer who, despite the reluctance of those around her, tries to save the honor and dignity of the old professor.
A dark comedy about a murder and its consequences presented in a backwards manner, where death is actually a rebirth. The film starts with an "execution" of the main protagonist and goes back to explore his previous actions and motivations.
A police inspector and inexperienced trainee search for a mysteriously disappeared manufacturer of ointments for hair growth.
In a land of two kingdoms - one ruthless under King Vladan’s conquests, the other hidden behind a magical lake and ruled by kindly King Dobromil - Queen of Fire enchants Princess Mariana in living flame to force Dobromil’s hand in ceding the kingdom’s fabled Ruby Heart. Desperate, Dobromil uses a magic ring to summon the ever-jovial Tadeáš from Vladan’s realm; Tadeáš braves the flames, rescues Mariana, and wins her heart, only for their triumph to be threatened once more.
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.
A period musical comedy set in a quiet Prague quarter at the end of the fifties. Using the western plot device of the "man from nowhere" a generation gap story unfolds of changing social climate. The action is driven by the character of a young man named Baby who causes a local rebellion by bringing rock'n'roll to a Communist neighborhood raised on swing.
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 bitter sweet comedy that follows a highly appointed Chancellor who set to step down from his position after years of service to his country. With just two last days left to enjoy his palatial villa before he is finally evicted, his situation gradually goes from bad to worse.
Mr Jiš managed to give his first script at Barrandov. Already in the preparatory phase, he discovers with horror that the filmmakers have completely bypassed his intention - instead of a probe into the life of a contemporary village, they are preparing a spectacular musical show, which they are convinced will be a hit with the audience. The very first shots speak volumes. An elegiac arrives in the village of Lipovec and is greeted with singing and dancing by all the local officials and ordinary citizens, as this coveted expert is to help them increase their hectare yields with his progressive methods. The filming continues in a similar vein, and the newly minted screenwriter can't help but wonder...
The family is connected with Prague's "Kolbenka", the ČKD locomotive factory. Grandfather Antonín, already retired, son Rudolf, a master in the locomotive assembly section and grandson Antonín, a promising football player. The film also tells the story of Rudolf's daughter Vera - each generation has its own ideas about life and cannot identify with the others. The film is linked by retrospective sequences from the lives of Antonín the Elder and Rudolf, especially from the war years. It is a realistic take on working-class life, unencumbered by ideology (despite the opening dedication), featuring well-known and time-tested actors in mainly male roles.
Marcela can't bear Jarda any longer, so she threatens divorce and takes the kids to her mom's, whose husband is a creep. While Marcela is there, Jarda is jailed, because he is part of a gang steeling cars and they get caught in the act. Benes, the urbane man whose car got stolen by Jarda and his gang, befriends Marcela. Soon she feels drawn to Benes and all of a sudden she must make up her mind: Jarda is still sexually attractive to her, but Benes offers security, and her own body and mind may not pull at the same strand.
Káj Mick has always been called Kočka (Cat). He is a sensitive young man who reacts violently to the misunderstanding of both his family and his surroundings. Finding his own way in life is his problem...
An anthology in three jazz-infused tales: an idealistic student’s romance with a pragmatic trumpeter; a vibraphonist’s urgent journey ending in tragedy; and drummer Honza’s moral dilemma as he confronts how far he’ll go to obtain his dream kit.
A young man living in a strictly run boarding house secretly brings a girl of loose morals into his room at night, who is nevertheless well-groomed and takes great advantage of her situation. For the heart of the comedy lies in the problem of how to get rid of a difficult girl in the morning.
Told from the perspective of man reflecting on his childhood in Prague in the early years of World War II and the eventual destruction of his family as the Nazis rise to power. The storyline focuses heavily on Jewish-Czech Silberstein family members. Drama was filmed on the real events as a tribute to Mr. Nicholas Winton, the British humanitarian who organized the rescue of 669 children, most of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Second World War in an operation later known as the Czech Kindertransport from German-occupied Czechoslovakia and likely death in the Holocaust.
Engineer Jan Sebek (Jan Kacer) is undergoing treatment in a mental home after his unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide. His therapist, via discussions both with the patient and with people who know him, tries to find out what made the young and seemingly satisfied man decide to end his own life. Jan's pretty wife Jana (Jana Brejchová) claims not to know about anything but she is conducting an affair with a family friend, almost publicly and with the blessing of her parents.
At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to liberate himself from his virginity. Oblivious to the war and the resistance that surrounds him, this young man embarks on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery, encountering a universe of frustration, eroticism, and adventure within his sleepy backwater depot.
Unlike any other opera, the so-called Beggar's Opera is not just one composition, but a lineage of adapted compositions, beginning with the original hugely successful 1728 political satire written by Englishman John Gay. Composers and writers have penned variations on it ever since. The most famous of these was A Threepenny Opera by Bertholt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Some things these compositions share in common is their setting among the poor and criminal classes, and the roguish character Macheath. This production is based on an adaptation of Gay's original by Vaclav Havel the freedom-fighter, writer and philosopher who became the first (and only) president of the united post-communist country of Czechoslovakia, and it retains many traces of its theatrical origins. Film reviewers were not too tolerant of what they called "slavish adherence" to the noted Czech writer's stage production, but theater, philosophy and history buffs may feel otherwise.
A passionate communist worker is discouraged by the changing political climate and the failure of his peers to live up to his ideals.
A professor reunites with an old friend who inspires him to return to Czechoslovakia for the first time since he emigrated years ago.
Charming, witty and smart men represent a fictitious insurance company who soon fall for an innocent-looking young woman smarter than she seems.
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.
Biography of Karel Čapek.
A stuffy middle-aged foreigner, a businessman named Fabricius, lonely and looking for a night's diversion, finds it in the form of a mysterious blonde. In an abandoned cemetery, she tells him three tales involving black magic and erotic obsession. In "The Last Golem," a young rabbi struggles to fashion a massive, silent giant out of living clay — until he's distracted by a mute servant girl. In the second episode, "Bread Slippers," an 18th-century countess indulges her passion for sweet cakes, adulterous affairs, and secret kisses with pretty maids until a mysterious visitor whisks her away to an abandoned mansion, where Fate has a different kind of dance in store for her. And in the final story, "Poisoned Poisoner," a ravishing murderess in the Middle Ages dispatches lecherous merchants to the tune of upbeat '60s Czech pop songs.
Who wouldn't want to return to the limelight? Years ago, actress Slávka Hradilová was a movie star. Today, she is approaching 60 and the most she does is appear in commercials. But she still keeps in shape. She regularly meets with friends to help them solve their problems, enjoys her teenage granddaughter, but above all she longs to get a big role in front of the movie camera again. When one day she gets an offer with a script in hand, she beams and heads to the studios where she was once almost a queen. But it turns out that times have changed, and today's directors want something different from actors than routine gestures and flashy facial expressions. So the former star is in for a profound disappointment...
This dramatic story concerns the fateful night of March 14-15, 1939, when President Dr. Emil Hácha was forced to sign a document legalizing the establishment of the so-called Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Screenwriter J. S. Kupka conceived this historical event as a human drama about a man who is faced with the decision of whether to comply with Nazi dictates or risk bloodshed.
A young lieutenant, who is visiting his uncle at the time, goes to collect a debt from a tenant, as requested by his uncle. He wants to get married, and his uncle will lend him money for the wedding if he collects the debts from the tenants. The woman prepares the money, but when the young lieutenant signs the bills and hands them over to her, she does not give him the money. Upon his return, the lieutenant confides everything to his uncle, who then sets out to collect them himself...
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.
An expedition arrives on planet Arkha, which appears desolate and uninhabited and yet suitable for a planned mass exodus from polluted Earth. One day seemingly from nowhere and quite unexpectedly a young boy wanders into their ship and then runs off.
Charming 60-something José returns to Prague after 30 years living in Mexico, though he was convinced that he would never see his hometown again. He was persuaded by his deeply religious Mexican wife Dolores, who is convinced that only a miracle that might be fulfilled by Prague’s famous Infant Jesus can help their daughter Penelopé get pregnant. And the ideal time for this is Christmas. And when Ruda, his friend from Prague, also insists, José agrees to return to the places he used to know and to the memories that they bring back – including his former Prague love. And it becomes evident that the Infant Jesus is not the only one capable of making miracles come true in Prague. Penelopé’s longed-for conception is definitely not the only one…
It is April 1945, spring begins and ends the war. German transport heading away from Bohemia.
Czechoslovakian Zbynek Brynych directs this psychological drama set in World War II Terezin ghetto. A dark, visual portrayal of the trials and tribulations the Theresienstadt people faced on a daily basis presented in a series of memorable stories. Their hopes and dreams unfold against the perpetual threat of deportation (or worse) by the Nazis. Based on the novel "Night and Hope" by Arnost Lustig.
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 Czech TV film adaptation of Budd Schulberg's novel The Harder They Fall, which had previously been made as the 1956 US movie of the same name starring Humphrey Bogart and Rod Steiger.
The main character of the story is Professor Trojan, the head of a Prague clinic, who is not experiencing the happiest of times. His cat has been poisoned with cyanide, he has a falling out with his son Petr, who has moved to Brno to be with his wife, the promising singer Eva, and only seeks out his father when he needs money, and as if that weren't enough, someone shoots him in the evening. Trojan initially considers it a mistake or a prank and does not share the fears of those around him. But then cyanide is discovered and one of the patients takes it from the assistant Dvoracek, who borrowed it for an unauthorized experiment. Trojan pairs the cyanide with a gunshot and slowly begins to suspect that someone is trying to kill him. At first he suspects Dvorak, who might become the foreman after his death, but later, as he falls deeper and deeper into a psychosis of fear and apprehension, he begins to suspect everyone around him...
The fairy tale tells the story of a royal couple who cannot have children. With the help of a magical prop, they finally succeed, but in double measure. They give birth to twins. Which prop is responsible for this? Well, take a guess, or better yet, take another look at the title of the fairy tale. When the boys grow up and one of them is supposed to take over the joys and responsibilities of ruling, an unsolvable problem arises: should it be Vojta or František? We won't reveal the plot with all its twists and turns, but one thing is certain: the boys set out into the world with the understanding that the one who can perform the greater heroic deed will become king. The princes, even though they are not exactly cut out for it, take on the task with all their vigor and responsibility.
The series follows Cyril and Methodius, two Byzantine Greek brothers born in the 9th century. They became missionaries of Christianity and influenced the cultural development of the Great Moravian territory.
Czechoslovak comedy film directed by Ladislav Smoljak, about the fictional national hero Jára Cimrman (universal genius, inventor, sportsman, criminalist, poet, writer and philosopher).
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.
The waitress Gita from the hotel "Bobí vrch" approaches her lover who has not left his wife yet and gives him an ultimatum: if he does not do all according to her wish, she will announce to the police his machinations with foreign currency.
Father Viktor, highly capable and successful in his profession, and his son Petr, an equally successful and promising student, suddenly find themselves in an unexpected situation – after the death of their wife and mother, these two exemplary models of the perfect man and student must deal with such a mundane matter as taking care of the household. As capable, intelligent, and successful men, they naturally see no problem with this. Their experienced neighbor Lupínek, a distinguished grandfather with four grandchildren to look after, warns them in vain and offers his help. Male vanity and pride are stronger. As a result, they gradually find themselves in a whirlwind of embarrassments, problems, and disasters that gradually erode their self-confidence and destroy their firm belief in their own perfection. Fortunately, Uncle Artur comes to the rescue.
A scientist meets a nice girl and they start dating. He decides the only way to find out for sure if she’s the one is to take a long trip with her, but things don’t go quite as he’d hoped.
Getting out of prison doesn't mean being free. After the bloody suppression of the Prague Revolution in 1848, one of its participants, the writer František Vinický, spent eight years in prison. Returning to Prague in 1857, he tries to make contact with his former friends. The main one is his former comrade-in-arms Antoš. Of course, the man's steps also lead him to his former love Ida, who has been married to the councillor Mayer for several years. Vinicky is followed at practically every turn by the secret police, who will not allow him to get a decent job, let alone publish his new book. Police Councillor Berger makes it clear to the writer that a lot could be arranged if Vinicky would commit to cooperating...
While a woman is in the hospital preparing to deliver her child, her husband has all day to reflect upon his wife and their relationship. As he tends to his job as a television repairman, Slavek fondly remembers how he first met Ivana and the days they spent getting to know one another. Slavek also grows increasingly aware of the environment that surrounds him and questions the society his new child will be entering.
A minimalist portrait of ultimate love.
An episodic film about the inhabitants of Kersko, their hardships and their joys, most prominently hunting. A lyrical and humorous adaptation of writings by Bohumil Hrabal.
Loosely inspired by a real criminal court case. It took place in Prague and the Tatra Mountains between 1926 and 1928 and was later described as one of the biggest, if not the biggest, cases the pre-Munich Republic had ever seen. Nevertheless, the police and judiciary at the time failed to clarify and close the case in such a way that it would not raise legitimate questions long after the trial had ended. Even though the court handed down its verdicts, the case remained open in a way, and this is also reflected in the script, which remained faithful to the facts in its basic outline," says screenwriter Václav Šašek, author of the two-part television production The Trial of the Martyn Murderers...
Somewhere in the Forbidden Forest lives the evil wizard Kruciatus. A hundred years ago, he attempted to destroy the kingdom now ruled by King Alexander, who has two sons - the heir to the throne, John, and the younger prince, Charles. However, Charles refuses to accept his role as second in line at any cost. With the help of his servant Pakosta, he breaks into a forbidden chamber in the castle, obtains magical props left behind by the evil wizard, and intends to destroy his brother. Prince John drinks a magic potion served to him by his mischievous brother, which instantly erases his memory. John then recklessly sets off on a journey to the Forbidden Forest, where everyone who has ever entered has disappeared without a trace.
A recording of the legendary production “Audience“ from the Prague Drama Club with Josef Abrhám and Pavel Landovský. In 1975, Václav Havel worked as a labourer in the brewery in Trutnov; he could do nothing else. And it was here that he made perhaps his most successful one-act play, Audience, about the writer Ferdinand Vanek, who is invited by his superior to offer him a deal - a promotion to warehouse keeper, but in return has to inform on himself for StB reports.
The legend of Doctor Faust tells of man's desire for knowledge and fulfillment in life.
Czechoslovakia, 1942. Three brave Czech patriots risk everything to rid their country of its brutal Nazi leader, SS-General Reinhard Heydrich.
In 1947 Prague, Holocaust survivor Dita lives in a hostel for orphans, acting as a protective mentor to a younger girl while failing to fix her own shattered life. Unable to form lasting bonds or find a place in a society that has moved on, she drifts through emotional isolation.
The young Marta has made a break in her medical education to fully invest in her career as a model. We follow her for a day in her life, almost completely without hearing her voice. It is seldom that Marta gets the space to speak, instead she is mostly subject to the voice of others.
Czechoslovakia 1918. The newly formed National Assembly has made Stoklasa the administrator of the Kratochvile Castle. Although with no aristocratic background, he is a man of fortune and is trying to buy the castle. To impress his neighbors and the local politicians he invites them to a great hunting party. Uninvited comes a man who claims to be Duke Alexej. Stoklasa believes him to be a hustler. This hustler, however, manages to charm all the women before he leaves.
Even after twelve years, Štěpán, Kendy, and Karas have remained true to themselves. They are inseparable friends with an inexhaustible sense of humor and a knack for self-irony, albeit with a slight touch of skepticism.
How to marry off two daughters and a maid, especially when the father has no idea that it's high time? Father Ubaldo has worries; his two daughters are constantly complaining about their health. And he would also like to find them husbands. He has no idea that the girls and their young maid have already found their sweethearts themselves. Not only that, but they would actually like to get married as soon as possible. And so they persistently reject other suitors, refuse medical examinations, and instead welcome their favorites disguised as doctors. The playful banter, gags, disguises, physical comedy, and verbal humor of this unrestrained performance in the style of Italian commedia dell'arte entertained audiences at the Drama Club for several years.
The film is not merely a record of rehearsals, but above all an intimate look at the relationships between its individual protagonists. Nor is it a classic documentary, because the line between acting, creation, and recording reality is too thin. The film thus reflects not only the aging of outstanding actors, but also their relationship to today's world and their disappointment with the current state of Czech film and theater. It speaks to their fears, desires, and efforts to give their best.
A recording of a theatre production directed by Jan Kačer from 1967.
A Slovak film adaptation of the eponymous play Radošina Naive Theatre. Time stood still at a small and neglected Slovak railway station. The locals are stuck in place, know each other well and live according to learned rituals with no prospect of change any time soon. An unexpected impulse to the sleepy community is brought about by the discovery of the corpse of one of the cronies in the station toilets and the arrival of an energetic policewoman to investigate.
A story that takes place during Advent, we'll meet again with your favorite pair angel Petronel and devil Urias. Their eternal wrangling causes the rare apple from the tree of the knowledge to roll on earth. And that God is really angry. Petronel with Urias find themselves in a small Czech town on the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas. And after a series of human and "divine" tests our heroes eventually find that the path to knowledge leads primarily through self discovery through the strength of friendship, love and forgiveness skills.
A short story film depicting the three different faces of crime. In the short story "The Weekend", Karas kills a woman he raped some time ago in order to silence her. However, he accidentally kills another woman. In "Hostages", a drug addict, Chaban, terrorizes the hospital's operating team, but the disciplined doctors handle the difficult situation. In "The Pickpocket", the thief Benda wants to return to his trade immediately after his release, but his attempt ends tragically.
A psychological drama exploring the notion of the doctor as a moral authority, who within the framework of their everyday work must face questions of life and death. The film is adapted from a novel by Valja Stýblová, in which the author draws upon her personal experiences as a former neurosurgeon. The protagonist of this drama is an ageing professor, based at a Prague neurological clinic, who is haunted by issues concerning his own principles and values, and also by the case of a young patient, Víťa, afflicted with an inoperable tumour.
In 1992, Prague is the capital of a small kingdom. The prince is supposed to choose his bride to be at a royal ball. But to everybody's surprise, he chooses an ugly cleaning-woman. She is shy and silent, but after the marriage she turns into a wild and rumbustious woman with an obstinate and stubborn mind. They both try to kill each other, but the queen is thrown into the dungeons.
Five-year-old Anne Sachs was playing with her Treperenda doll in her room when she heard a scream from the next room. Someone had hurt her mother. Unbeknownst to the girl, she had become a witness to a murder. Detective Steve Carella is on the trail of the perpetrator, but at a crucial moment he falls into a trap. Mayer and his rebellious assistant Bert Kling take over the investigation. Both must explain Carella's disappearance and find out who killed Karin Sachs and why. Her ex-husband Denis, little Anne's father, is scrupulously keeping the couple's troubled past a secret.
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.
A story of a man threatened by a fatal illness evaluating his life (the number 322 in the film title stands for the diagnosis of one kind of cancer). He understands his illness as a form of punishment for his cruel deeds in the 1950s. In the face of reality and his efforts to cleanse himself he hits a barrier of indifference, lack of interest, and individual and collective selfishness. He has to find his own reconciliation with his illness and his past and present life.
About the great Czech satirist Jaroslav Hašek, who was captured by the Russians during the First World War. Not wanting to fight for the interests of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, Hašek enters the Red Army and, as a commissar of the international brigade, goes the military way from Samara to Irkutsk.
Two gentlemen, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, have a brilliant plan! To spice up their quiet country life and bring some excitement into it, they invent a person they absolutely must travel to. Jack creates an imaginary brother, Philip, who he uses as an excuse to travel to London to see the lovely Gwendoline. Algernon, on the other hand, has an imaginary friend, Banbury, who is constantly ill and must urgently visit him at his hospital bed. Everything starts to fall apart when Moncrieff starts calling himself Philip after visiting Worthing's young protégé, Cecilia, at her country estate. When the two gentlemen find themselves under the same roof together - it's time to discover how important it is to have Philip!
Set in a small-town hospital, the film tells the story of the great suffering of a small rascal, nicknamed “Lies and Steals“, who promises his little partner that he will bring St Nicholas - a traditional figure of Czech Advent - to the hospital room. He fails to keep this promise, his efforts being thwarted several times by the pedantic head nurse, who is called the Old Goat. In the course of the plot, the strained relationships between the three adults - the alcoholic Dr. Koníček, the head nurse and the young nurse Pipka - are revealed, all burdened with various resentments, false illusions and disappointed hopes. Despite all the conflicts, and as if by a miracle, there is a kind moment of extraordinary emotional understanding at the end, and Nicholas finally appears in the hospital.
A cheerful fairy tale about how two young people who initially didn't even want to meet fall in love. The classic theme of searching not only for love but also for happiness in life is interesting for its modern approach and completely contemporary dialogue, which is very relatable to today's children. Princess Róza and Prince Philip II are to be married for the sake of their fathers' higher political interests, without ever having met before. Róza is a gentle girl who, despite her father forcing her to fence and shoot, prefers to play the transverse flute. Philip II, on the other hand, has no interest in ruling, but loves to go, secretly of course, to cook ordinary pub food at the local inn. And that is where they meet completely by chance...
If the conceited Princess Hortensia, the lazy, sleepy Princess Julienka and the cunning Princess Melanie had known what the bell hanging above the door to the royal chamber would reveal about them, they would never have come to the castle to woo her. But the bell did choose a good bride for Prince Marian. Madelenka, his childhood friend, was neither noble nor rich, but she was kind, hardworking and, most importantly, had long loved him.
The story of six men and one woman who, while exploring the underground part of an old palace, discover that they are trapped here and that there is no return. One can survive here, but is mere survival life? This is the question each of them asks, only the answers differ. A guide who is the epitome of a dictator type takes charge of the group. In a liminal fantasy situation, the characters of other, mutually unknown people are tested over time.
This film brings us back to show us the life of the famous ancient sage Aesop, who helped people with his wisdom in their struggle for freedom and happiness.
How will the irresistible darling of women, the seducer and the eternal philanderer cope when several of his "loves" unexpectedly appear in his apartment on New Year's Eve?
In May 1945, a woman in Marienbad reports a murder - committed in 1933 against the German emigrant Professor Lessing. She also names the murderer. Against the wishes of his superior, who does not feel responsible for this case - it was a fascist femicide - Inspector Šedý picks up the trail and arrests the murderer, the German Eckert. Eckert was a fugitive at the trial in 1933, and now the evidence is no longer available. Nevertheless, Šedý does everything he can to convict him. He finds witnesses who support him - anti-fascists, but also former collaborators who want to clear themselves. Reconstructing the case at the crime scene, Šedý is able to prove that Eckert was at least an accessory. He is convicted. After his release from prison, Eckert goes to West Germany, where he demands compensation from his former clients.
The aging police commissioner, who has a twenty-five-year-old fiancée, Olga, is disturbed at his sixtieth birthday party by the news from the administrator Psekov that his master, the cornet Klyausov, has been murdered. A commission, headed by an investigating judge, is sent to the estate of the debauched nobleman. The decisive evidence is a Swedish match.
A professional card player and swindler, Icharev, arrives in a small town with a plan to rip off some local jackdaw if possible. However, a trio of local, experienced swindlers have the same plan. They want to play cards with Icharev, but they immediately recognize each other's personalities. The fun continues, but the group regrets that they have no one to play with. There is a local landowner, Glov, but he avoids cards like the devil. And yet he is waiting for two hundred thousand rubles from the bank for the sold piece of land. Of course, the gentlemen will not miss their chance... A recording of a theatrical production by the Drama Club in Prague.
This student film by the award-winning Helena Třeštíková bears many of the hallmarks of her later work. Made as a graduation piece when she was at the FAMU Film and TV Academy in Prague, we see the director developing the distinctive observational style of filmmaking that she has used so effectively throughout her career. Over the course of several months, she follows a young pregnant woman as she becomes slowly acquainted with the joys and responsibilities of motherhood.
The actress, who is starring in a successful theatre production, is offered a big film role by an Italian director. She decides to leave her current certainties behind and throw herself into the whirlwind of a tempting opportunity, only she doesn't count on the fact that not every expectation will actually come true as she had ideally hoped...
Second-rate writer Marton spends his not-yet-advanced old age in a luxurious retirement home. Apart from his grandson, who lives somewhere in Australia, he has no one else in the world. His wife left him long ago, but he cannot forget her. He feels he cannot bear the empty, monotonous life among equally abandoned people. He confides in his diary that he will commit suicide in the coming days. But then new guests arrive—the beautiful Mrs. Rouvrová and her disabled husband. A spark quickly ignites between Marton and Mrs. Rouvrová, and suicide is forgotten. But mysterious deaths begin to occur in the home, and soon there is no doubt that they are murders. Marton must ultimately suspect his late love, Mrs. Rouvrová...
Lada is a little boy who likes to read fiction and has a great imagination. He figures out that his sister Eva's boyfriend is a vampire, and so he and his brother put him through various tests that, in effect, cause Eva and her boyfriend to break up for real.
Friends Hejbal and Kašík long for adulthood so they can do whatever they want, but when a unique chemistry experiment suddenly allows them to grow up, nothing seems as simple as it first seems...
A few days in the life of a Czechoslovak teenager when he starts work.
A youthfully enthusiastic teacher tries to raise the standard of living of the residents of a declining border village... A sympathetic young man with a suspended sentence was Josef Abrham's first big role. Miroslav Horníček often told a funny story from the set about his motorcycle rides.
In the mid-eighties, screenwriter and director Jaroslav Balík tried to give voice to the problems of an ambitious young woman who decides to get back to work after a few years spent on maternity leave. NFA.CZ
A report of embezzlement is made against Helenka, a popular clerk at the village post office. The investigation reveals that she is 200 crowns short and the girl commits suicide. Her protector and friend, the gendarmerie sergeant Brejcha, does not believe that the girl is capable of any crime, and he investigates how the money was actually stolen. Apparently, someone stole her money when she turned away from her window. He gets further clues from the new clerk who took over after Helenka...
After a colleague is murdered, insurance worker Kafka gets embroiled in an underground group who are attempting to thwart a secret organization that controls the major events in society.
Everything is ready for a big celebration in the forest clearing. The mischievous fairy Arnoštka should get married as soon as possible and as well as possible. But the fairy is more interested in the human world than in marriage and suitors. What could be behind this? Only the fairy Žofie understands her, because she knows about Arnoštka's secret love for Prince Adam. Arnoštka, on the other hand, doesn't worry about it – she elegantly breaks all the rules of fairy behavior and meets with the prince. Žofie thinks about how to help the two of them, the fairy Emilka is jealous, and the king is furious. But as it turns out in the end, he has no reason to be...
A dark fable set in an early 1950s Czech village, a time of Soviet-style socialism which saw the implementation of collectivized agriculture and the mass closure of monasteries and convents.
Every one of us has certainly been in a situation for which he or she is not prepared and is not able to orient him or herself immediately and correctly. And the hero of our story also finds out in a rather unpleasant way that it leads to a number of misunderstandings and bitter mistakes... Jaroslav Falta (J. Abrhám), a nondescript clerk, cannot resist the pressure of several people interested in buying his aunt's house after the hospitalization of his wealthy aunt (A. Hegerlíková). He is charmed and won over by the charm of a colleague from work - Alenka (J. Asterová) - after departure of his girlfriend on a business trip.
Against the petty, which places its own glory above honest work and honest human relationships. Čapek's Foltýn is from the family of eternally recurring dramatic themes about the conflict between talent and untalent, soundness and dilettancy, vocation and parasitism, of all kinds.
This impressionistic film captures the uniqueness of life and creativity. An experimental feature comprising 40 distinct acting roles, each captured on its own 16 mm film roll, offering a kaleidoscopic mosaic of human traits that fluidly crosses comedy, drama, and documentary styles. Rather than following a conventional narrative, it presents standalone character portraits that collectively inspire creative artists to define and communicate their vision clearly.
Set in a bleak, filth-ridden provincial hospital, a disillusioned doctor begins to find the philosophical ramblings of a mental patient more stimulating than the company of "sane" society. As their relationship deepens amidst the grimy and decaying wards, the doctor's own mental health is called into question by his suspicious colleagues.