Favourite Czech film/s

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

  1. Katie/Katerina

    Katie/Katerina Active Member

    I've a fair few new-er DVDs here in the Uk that have been bought on my last few trips to Prague and/or as presents for me for birthday/xmas presents, but was just wondering what Czech films (or programmes) other posters like, in case I've missed a gem or two. I love films in general, especially European, Japanese and Korean cinema, but since dvds in Czech tend to be quite expensive, when I arrive I want to be careful of my spending- the Uk has somewhat spoilt me in terms of buying dvds from Play.com and similar sites.


    My recommends?

    Obcena Skola
    Horem Padem
    Prebehy Obycejneho Silenstvi (apologies but I can't get Czech letters)
    Samotari
    Jedna Ruka Netleska
    Musime si Pomahat

    and, of course.... Pelisky :) Even the intro music makes me smile!
     
  2. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Now you can buy a lot of DVDs in newstands for as little as 49 Kc.

    I will recommend Tmavomodrý svět (Dark Blue World), it is way different then the others you mentioned. Kolja (Kolya) is good as well. From recent years I like Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále (I served the king of England).
     
  3. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    Along with Pelíšky, my three favourite Czech films, Alexx. And as for old films, try Hoři, má panenko or Vrchni, Prchni and completely different but beautiful, Amadeus.
     
  4. kilosierra

    kilosierra Well-Known Member

    I loved Koyla... You can rent it here in the US very easily!!
     
  5. phi11ip

    phi11ip Well-Known Member

    Tmavomodrý Svět was shown on BBC recently. One of the best films i've seen in a long time. Well recommended..
     
  6. Ctyri koruny

    Ctyri koruny Well-Known Member

  7. jen

    jen Well-Known Member

    I just watched Venkovský učitel and quite liked it....
     
  8. kibicz

    kibicz Well-Known Member

  9. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    Thank you, kibicz. I'm not going to be able to get that annoying little tune out of my head all day now! But it must be popular, it's been watched over 46,000 times! (And only half of them by kibicz!)
     
  10. Jirka

    Jirka Well-Known Member

    Hi

    I don't agree Amadeus is a Czech film although its director is Czech American.

    One of my favourite Czech films that I would recommend is Svatební cesta do Jiljí. To get a better idea of some more Czech movies, you may want to check out http://www.meteleskublesku.cz with photos and audio clips from a good number of pictures made mainly in the times of communist rule.

    For more comprehensive listing of Czech movie production, go to http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seznam_čes ... onologicky).
    (Hey, there are some problems with this URL. To my surpirse is contains Czech diacritics and parentheses. You need to copy it up to the closing parenthesis.)

    Have fun...

    Jirka
     
  11. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    It was also filmed here,which is why I think of it as a Czech film. As well as the more well known Prague scenes in Stavoské divadlo, and Mozart's house on Hradčanské náměstí, the opening sequence, with Salieri in the mental hospital, was filmed at Invalidovna, five minutes from where we live.
     
  12. Zik

    Zik Well-Known Member

    Yes, as said: Kolya, The Dark-Blue World and I Served The King Of England. These movies have high technical quality and are understandable for foreigners. And they learn about Czech history. In 2007, there was another very good historical movie by Václav Marhoul - Tobruk (don't mistake to American movie Tobruk from 1967). It's about Czech troops, that fought in Tobruk, Libya, together with British, Australian and Polish troops against Germans and Italians. And for those who like Dostoevsky, I can recomand Karamasows (Karamazovi).

    There are also other great movies, but I'm afraid these are just for Czechs, or people who know a lot about Czech culture, history and way of life. For example Cosy Dens (Pelíšky), The Elementary School or Marečku, podejte mi pero!. The last is made in the socialitic era.

    And in contrast to this poor age, there is a great movie from 1939, from the first Czechoslovak republic, when Czechoslovakia was the 5th richest state all over the world - Kristián. It's about "higher society", dancing, singing and beutiful woman and it was even popular in Nazi Germany.

    Czechs have rich cinematography. Enjoy!

    All English names are official and they are taken from English Wikipedia. Those movies written in Czech names have no official English names (or Wikipedia doesn't know about them :wink:).
     
  13. Katie/Katerina

    Katie/Katerina Active Member

    I think both Pelisky and the Elementary School (Obcena Skola) are very accesible to non-Czechs, and anyone who did not live in a comunist state as long as they have a decent knowledge of how society worked in these countries- I don't think it's necessary to have a communist upbringing to appreciate them. I love them both and have special edition dvds of both... Pelisky in particular is just fantastic.. even the starting music/score makes me smile :D
     
  14. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Marecek, Pass Me the Pen!
    Christian

    (from International Movie Database)
     
  15. wer

    wer Well-Known Member

    I prefer The Elementary School over Kolya. It’s much more sincere.

    I like the performance of Oldřich Kaiser but the script is weak. It can’t beat the old good Nebeští jezdci.

    Again, Kaiser proofs he is good actor, but it was a bit of disappointment for me, book is much better as are the older Menzel’s Hrabals.

    I missed this movie so far which makes me think it is rather 2008. I look forward to the DVD release.

    This was agreeable surprise. Very good movie, though not for average viewer, I guess. The movie is partly in Polish but it is done in a sensitive way, so even the Czechs who are not experts on Polish could understand it. I’m afraid the bilingual magic will be lost in any translation.

    Close your eyes, I’m leaving. Youtube is full of Kristián.
    As it is full of Eva tropí hlouposti (Eva runs wild), a crazy comedy from the very same year (Nataša Gollová was lovely :D).

    And my favourite movies:

    The best Czech movie ever, in my opinion, is Údolí včel (Valley of the Bees). It is a by-product of the notorious Markéta Lazarová (the best movie according to some polls) which never impressed me. The complete movie with English subtitles is on youtube.

    The only other movie comparable to Údolí včel is Obchod na korze (The Shop on Main Street). This is actually Slovak movie, but as the Czech and Slovak cinematography was inseparable that time, I think I could mention it here. (youtube)

    Another good movie is the depressive comedy Spalovač mrtvol (The Cremator). The complete movie with English subtitles is on youtube.

    And some comedies:

    Limonádový Joe aneb Koňská opera (Lemonade Joe) western parody (youtube)

    Kdo chce zabít Jessii? (Who Wants to Kill Jessie?) comic book parody, the speech bubbles in actors film was perfect idea :twisted: (youtube)

    Tajemství hradu v Karpatech (The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians) parody on Jules Verne’s Le Château des Carpathes (youtube)

    Adéla ještě nevečeřela (Adele Hasn't Had Her Dinner Yet) famous American detective in Prague youtube

    Saturnin Czech analog of P. G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves. (youtube)

    Postřižiny one of the good Menzel’s Hrabal (youtube)
     
  16. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    Wer, that's fanstastic! I'm going to work my way through them.
     
  17. Jirka

    Jirka Well-Known Member

    It's an interesting point. Perhaps it isn't very important which country made a movie, especially in this globalizing world. You however hear and see this specification all the time. It's a cliche, I suppose, while there are quite a lot of truly international projects in movie making.

    To me, Amadeus, has always been an American picture though. I think that most viewers consider the language as a deciding factor although spaghetti western as a genre is a good example of exceptions.

    For distributors and alike perphaps whose money produced the film is the most important...

    Jirka
     
  18. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    There were many Czechoslovakian actors in Amadeus, costumes were designed by Czech artist Theodor Pištěk and many other crew members were Czechoslovaks.

    If you are interested, look here:
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/fullcredits
     
  19. Petronela

    Petronela Well-Known Member

    Anything with Oldrich Novy in it. Those old comedies are way too adorable.
     
  20. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    The British Czech and Slovak Association in the UK have just sent me details of the Czech Centre's Czech Film Tour, which starts this month - see below - to mark the Czech Presidency of the EU. They're visiting several towns in the UK, so perhaps MCR members over there will be able to see some of them.

    But apart from Citizen Havel and Empties, I haven't heard of any of them. What do you Czechs think of them?

    http://ccl.kx.cz/Made_in_Prague/made_in_prague.htm
     

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