Favourite Czech film/s

Discussion in 'Movies, Music & Media' started by Katie/Katerina, Feb 16, 2009.

  1. Katie/Katerina

    Katie/Katerina Active Member

    Thanks so much for this ;) I'm so pleased, as they are actually showing most of the films in our city centre cinema in liverpool.. and most importantly, the Ivan Trojan film, teddy Bears is one of them. I've already arranged to see it, so it was great info for me.

    Thanks,

    Katie
     
  2. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    Excellent, Katie! I'm glad someone is going to be able to go.

    I don't think I knew you were in Liverpool. Although I'm from Manchester originally, I read politics at Liverpool University and lived in Woolton for my last two years there.
     
  3. Katie/Katerina

    Katie/Katerina Active Member

    Yes, we are both living in Waterloo, and I am originally from Crsoby. Iread at Liverpool University too- Art History and Philosophy- and some of my tutors were in the Politcs dept., as i read Political Philosophy in my 3rd year. I don;t know Woolton very well.

    I've just arranged tickets for Teddy Bear, so once again, thanks for the tip- I love Ivan trojan so it will be great to watch a newer film I don't have yet. It sounds like a grown up version of Samotari :)

    Katie
     
  4. bibax

    bibax Well-Known Member

    Scrimshaw's short stories (in the Czech Language section) reminded me a short film filmed in 1969 (after the Soviet invasion).

    Title: Nezvaný host (The Uninvited Guest)
    Director: Vlastimil Venclík (then a student of FAMU)
    Cast: Pavel Landovský (then a new Czech movie star), ...

    Plot:

    "A young married couple is disturbed in their lovemaking by a unpatient banging on their door. When the husband opens the door, a hulking great fellow in a flat hat and quilted coat with a large suitcase breaks into the bedroom and immediately begins make himself at home in the flat. The scared husband seeks help from his neighbours, finding out to his horror that the other tenants, too, have similar uninvited guests. The guest falls asleep and the husband decides to murder him. But just before he makes the decisive stab with a kitchen knife, the guest wakes up. After a while, however, the couple gets used to the unknown man, especially when they find out that the guests of the other tenants are much more cruel that theirs. The husband begins to call the intruder a friend, the wife sits on his lap and strokes his hair, while he plays mouth organ."

    Then the director couldn't work for next twenty years.

    Prasata ovládla naši farmu. Zdálo se, že nezvaní hosté nikdy neodejdou.
     
  5. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    Nezvaný host. That is an interesting story, Bibax.
    Sounds like it has the moral. Though things look bad, they could be worse.
    'The unvited guest' is also the title of an Agatha Christie novel.

    I might have mentioned this before.
    The word 'host' has opposite meanings in czech and english.

    In czech it is 'guest', while in english it is the person that is holding the gathering.
    She was a good host. The party went just as planned and everybody had a good time.
     
  6. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    I'm not sure that that is what being implied because the uninvited guest is supposed to be the Soviets occupying Czechoslovakia, which is why the director wasn't able to work afterwards. A very good film and if anyone finds it on Youtube, feel free to let us know!
     
  7. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    I see Polednikova, so the uninvited guests in that story are an allegory for the russians being in Czechoslovakia.
    And then at the end the man starts calling the guest friend.
    I guess resigning himself to the situation....or at least somewhat getting used to it.

    I would like to see that.
     
  8. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    This film clip on u.tube is hillarious. Had me laughing out loud.
    That's so funny that they never need to reload their guns.
    And that lemonade Joe had to check himself out in the mirror before he went after the bad guy.
    That Lemonadový Joe was a real hero.
    That movie is a classic.

    On you.tube(don't know how to insert links)
    Lemonade Joe (1964) Pt.5/10 - Limonádový Joe
     
  9. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

  10. My favourite was always the series including:

    Jak básníci přicházejí o iluze, Jak básníkům chutná život, Konec básníků v Čechách a Jak básníci neztrácejí naději.

    If anyone has any idea where I could buy the series (and that ships internationally) I would be very grateful.
     
  11. Ctyri koruny

    Ctyri koruny Well-Known Member

    And the couple making love must have been the Prauge Spring, that was about as subtle as a shovel in the face! Then again none of the symbolism dawned on me till I saw the sentence about him not working again for 20 years.

    It reminds me of The Trial as well, the way K. Just wakes up one morning and two men tell him to get dressed because he's under arrest. It's that intrusion.. that sense of shock and disbelief.. not knowing what's happening but this vague sense (of the reader if not K himself) that nothings going to be the same again.
    Everything in your home looks the same, but there's this presence, something that wasn't there yesterday, hanging over your head.



    Anyway I have Hrubeš a Mareš jsou kamarádi do deště on DVD.. and no subtitles and no idea what going on. Karel Gott is in it. That's good. I think I mentioned before I can understand translations of Hollywood films into Czech without subtitles but something original? Not a chance! not yet anyway.
     
  12. Ctyri koruny

    Ctyri koruny Well-Known Member

    Some very wonderful person has uploaded many Czech films to youtube with English subtitles (you have to click the arrow on the bottom right of the video)
    Chop chop! They will be deleted for copyright violations eventually.

    It looks like I'm not going to get a chance to go shopping today after all!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDg9WwcFvKA

    Spalovač mrtvol.. It was on Czech 2 Last year and how sad I was not to understand a word. Very happy to be able to watch it now!

    I think Skřivánci na niti is my new favorite film of all time.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HrR2uzR5l4&
     
  13. BaronPrasil

    BaronPrasil Member

    I agree that Skřivánci na niti (Larks on a String) may be one of the greatest movies ever. It at least has to be in the "greatest ever" discussion. It takes on a heavy topic (problems with the implementation of socialism in the 1950s), and uses A LOT of humor, but even with all the laughs, it doesn't lose touch with the true seriousness of the issues being raised, and doesn't become a wacky spoof. That's a difficult line to walk in film making.

    Some other favorites include:

    Musíme si pomáhat (Divided We Fall) - another serious, but funny, movie. I wrote an essay on this for a cinema class final exam
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0234288/

    Happy End - brilliant, starts with "Konec" (The End) and goes backwards
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061029/

    Kočár do vidně (Carriage to Vienna) - Iva Janžurova shows her greatness by carrying the movie while saying almost nothing
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060597/

    Ovoce stromů rajských jíme (We Eat the Fruit of the Trees of Paradise) - one of the most bizarre movies ever, but a great work of art
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064781/

    Až přijde kocour (When the Cat Comes) - a cat wears sunglasses, and when they are removed, the true nature of anyone that the cat looks at is exposed for all to see
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056844/

    I could go on and on, but instead I will end with a link to my list of great Czech(oslovak) movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls009351492/
     

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