Bronislav Poloczek Movies

It is just after the end of World War II in the new communist state Czechoslovakia, and the powers that be have decreed that the state will maintain a sizeable army. This spoof follows the adventures of one non-combatant regiment, the Black Barons, who spent the entire wartime period working in a quarry. Now they are attempting to behave like proper communist soldiers, but even the officers haven't got even the vaguest notions of Marxist doctrine. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Amadeus only speculated on the probable causes of the death (both actual and spiritual) of 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Czech-German Forget Mozart goes several steps further. When Mozart (Max Tidorf) is found dead, it's fairly obvious he's been murdered. Rounding up the likely suspects, Austrian police chief Count Pergen (Armin Mueller-Stahl) demands that each of his prisoners recall, in detail, his or her relationship to Mozart. As things unfold, however, it is clear that "guilt" is a relative term: the "murderer" turns out not to be a who, but a "what"--and even this is an elusive commodity. Nothing more can be revealed here without giving away the plot and the film's point of view. Originally titled Zabudnite na Mozarta, this existential exercise seemed destined from the start for limited art-house and festival viewings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Racial prejudice, in this case against gypsies (Romanies), is the focus of this low-budget but well-wrought story of a murder and unfounded suspicions. When the older son of a local, important party member is found with his throat slashed in the Romany quarter of town, the distraught and grieving father is ready to blame the gypsies for his death. Since one of the senior police officers is from that community himself, he acts as a counterfoil for the rush to judgment, a judgement not shared by the rest of the policemen who also want a thorough and unbiased investigation, no matter what the father's standing may be. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This highly-charged political satire from Czechoslovakia was banned for 20 years. It is the chronicle of a miserable marriage between a provincial bureaucrat and the boozy daughter of a pub-owner who find trouble when they learn through the grapevine that one of the husband's superior's has been arrested. Now the husband fears that a major purge is in the offing. Their fears are not allayed by the fact that their house keys have disappeared, nor can they shake the feeling that someone is watching them. Things don't get any better when they finally get into the house and find signs that someone has been in there. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide