Jiri Bartoska Movies
- 2009
This Czech-language drama from director Marie Polednakova concerns Helena (Kamila Magalova), a middle-aged, past-her-prime schoolteacher attempting to juggle her professional and private lives with great aplomb. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kamila Magalova, Jiri Bartoska, (more)
Fanda (Vlastimil Brodský of Larks on a String), an elderly former actor, can't resist playing practical jokes on everyone around him. As Autumn Spring opens, Fanda and his best friend and co-conspirator, Eda (Stanislav Zindulka), have convinced a real estate agent that Fanda is a retired star from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. As they tour an opulent mansion, Fanda pronounces it "very shabby." Fanda doesn't mean any harm with his pranks. He's just trying to amuse himself. But his wife, Emílie (Stella Zázvorková) doesn't understand his childish behavior, and resents the way he squanders money and wastes his time while she scrimps and saves and makes preparations for their eventual burial. Their selfish son, Jára (Ondrej Vetchý), wants them to move out of their apartment so that his ex-wife and her kids can move in. When one victim of Fanda's pranks realizes he's been had and demands payment for his time and expenditures, Fanda calmly agrees. Unable to come up with the money, he dips into Emílie's funeral fund. When she finds out about it, she decides to take drastic action, which has a profound effect on Fanda's carefree existence. Autumn Spring was directed by Vladimír Michálek from a script by Jirí Hubac. It marks the final performance of renowned Czech actor Brodský, who committed suicide shortly after the film was made. Autumn Spring won several Czech Lion awards in 2001, and has been shown at festivals throughout the world, including the 2003 installment of New Directors/New Films. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vlastimil Brodský, Stella Zázvorková, (more)
- 2001
A former Greek refugee takes a journey into the past in this moody drama. Stavros (Jiri Bartoska) was born in Greece during World War II, but like many Greek children he was exiled to Czechoslovakia in 1948 during a period of civil war in the country. After he grew to adulthood, Stavros returned to Greece and pursued a successful career as an architect, but his grandparents stayed behind, despite their fierce love for the land of their birth. After his grandmother and grandfather have passed on, Stavros decides to return to the former Czechoslovakia to claim their remains and bring them back for a burial in their homeland. However, the voyage proves to be more emotionally trying than Stavros imagined, as he finds himself reliving events from his youth, both happy and troubling. Podzimni Navrat received its North American premier at the 2001 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jiri Bartoska, George Velendzas, (more)
The horrors of the Jewish Holocaust are revisited in this drama by Czech director Matej Minac. The film opens with the upwardly mobile Silberstein clan led by Jakub (Josef Abrham), as he buys a villa in the countryside just before Hitler overruns the country. His blind faith in family unity ironically keeps a number of his relatives in the country to be victimized by the Nazis. Meanwhile, British humanitarian Nicholas Winton (Rupert Graves) tries to rescue hundreds of Czech children and get them out of the country. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josef Abrhám, Jiri Bartoska, (more)
- 1998
Vladimir Michalek directed this Czech-Polish-Slovak-French WWII period drama about a small Czech village where farmers are threatened by bitter opportunist Sekal (Boguslaw Linda) and his companion, dwarf Zaprdek (Lodovit Cittel). Sekal, who yearns for the respectability of his married half-brother (Martin Sitta), is held in contempt by his father (Jiri Holy). One day, Sekal goes too far, demanding the fields of a neighbor, the mayor's daughter as a bride, and a night with his half-brother's wife. The farmers choose local blacksmith Jura Baran (Olaf Lubaszenko) to execute Sekal. Complicating matters, Baran has become close to the village priest -- and the parish housekeeper is Sekal's mother. Shown at the 1998 Karlovy Vary Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Boguslaw Linda, Olaf Lubaszenko, (more)
- 1995
A middle aged divorced man goes through male menopause in this Czech melodrama. Karl is the man and the lovely Klara is his daughter. She is attracted to her father and demonstrates this trying to begin an affair with a fatherly-looking college professor. He rejects her and the despondent girl kills herself. Karl blames it all on the academic and swears that he will have revenge upon him. The father also becomes obsessed with a local brothel that offers patrons a veritable garden of bizarre sexual delights. A hidden video camera records Karl as his mind begins slipping away. After getting his revenge, it is the camera that reveals to Karl that he has killed the wrong man. By this time, he has turned his own house into a brothel and he finds himself utterly crushed by the destructive world he has created for himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1986
This uneven biography is a portrait of 19th-century composer Leos Janacek. Janacek (Ludek Munzar) is a pompous, philandering ladies man who spends seven years writing his opera "Jenufa". He watches helplessly as his daughter succumbs to illness while he drives his wife to attempt suicide with his flagrant womanizing. The director pays homage to the style of Ken Russell in this forgettable feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ludek Munzar, Jana Hlavacova, (more)
- 1978
"The Bender Gang" is a group composed of Ukrainians and others, who fought under the Germans during World War II. In this story, five men from the gang are attempting to make it to the border of Austria before Czechoslovakia accepts communist rule in the summer of 1947. They wind up hiding out in a remote village near the border, holding a farmer and his family hostage. At first the farmer tries to comply with their wishes, in order to save his wife and children. He goes so far as to kidnap the town's doctor to treat one of the group's wounded. When he fully understands the gang's ruthlessness and deceitfulness, he realizes that the only way for anyone he cares about to survive is for him to kill all five of the unmerciful men in whatever way he can. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juraj Kukura, Marta Vancurova, (more)
