Vaclav Vydra Movies
- 2008
This madcap, offbeat comedy - a satirical stab at the advertising industry - stars Vaclav Vydra as Ivan Mráz, proprietor of the Mráz Media Agency. In dire need of new employees, Ivan brings in some outsiders to staff the company. The problem is that they have absolutely no idea of how the advertising and marketing industries function - setting the stage for an outrageous fish-out-of-water scenario and a series of disasters once work begins. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan Zadrazil, Vaclav Vydra, (more)
Unlike the more familiar animated Pinocchio by Disney, there are no song interludes here, and characters added to the story by Disney (such as Jiminy Cricket) are not included. Producer Francis Ford Coppola and director Steve Barron, (known for the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film) closely adhere to Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel and use the visually timeless setting of a Czechoslovakian village. Jim Henson's puppet studio skillfully brings this Pinocchio to life. Long ago, in his youth, Gepetto (Martin Landau) loved but did not court Leona (Genvieve Bujold), who married Gepetto's brother instead. In that earlier time, he carved her initials with his onto a tree. Now his brother is dead, and though he still feels for Leona, he is still too shy to woo her. Instead, the old puppet-maker goes into the forest and cuts down a tree in order to make a puppet just for himself. The tree is the same one he carved his initials into when he was younger, and it has the magic of his love in it. Soon after the puppet Pinocchio is made, he comes to life. Aside from being made of wood, he begins to live the life of a perfectly normal little boy. He even goes to school. Lorenzini, an evil magician who runs a children's puppet show, hears of Pinocchio and wants to use him in his show. Lorenzini lures children to his show, only to later turn them into donkeys. Donkeys are useful creatures, and Lorenzini makes a lot of money selling them. Through many trials and tribulations, the puppet-boy earns the right to become the human boy Pinocchio (Jonathan Taylor Thomas). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Landau, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, (more)
Director Peter Sehr offers here another version of the origins of Kaspar Hauser, one of the most enigmatic characters in German history. According to this film, the title character is the real son of Duke Karl of Baden. Karl's brother Ludwig wants the throne for himself so he secretly orders a dying baby to be exchanged for the newborn heir. The real baby heir is promptly sent with a nurse to the countryside, but then is kidnapped by the Bavarians who are antagonistic to Baden. After Ludwig becomes a ruler of Baden, the young boy is kept in a cellar by the Bavarians, and then in 1828, after 12 years of confinement, he is brought to a square in Nuremberg in the early morning and left there alone. Unable to talk or walk, the young man is given the name Kaspar Hauser and is brought to the home of the kind professor Daumer, who teaches him to talk and introduces him to a civilized life. However, while the tension between the two rival countries increases, Ludwig of Baden sends his spies to seek out and eliminate the missing heir. Unlike Werner Herzog's The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, which treated the leading character as a mysterious man of the universe, this is a rather straightforward tale of political intrigue, where Kaspar is merely a pawn in someone else's wicked game, and the film barely rises above the level of a beautifully crafted costume drama. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- André Eisermann, Udo Samel, (more)
- 1940
This morbidly titled Czechoslovakian film was based on The White Diamond, a play by Karel Capek. Set in a mythical country, the story concerns a dedicated doctor (Hugo Haas) who discovers a cure for a dread disease that has decimated a goodly portion of the populace. The doctor refuses to reveal the secret of his miracle serum unless the country's despotic dictator promises to cease his warlike behavior and press for peace. Alas, the dictator refuses to listen, the country goes to war, and the doctor and his cure are lost to the Ages. Obviously designed as an allegorical statement against Fascism, Skeleton on Horseback was filmed in 1937, just before the German takeover of Czechoslovakia. Realizing that the film was tantamount to his own death warrant, star/director Hugo Haas fled to the United States, where his career continued unabated (albeit on a less lofty level). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bedrich Karen, Vaclav Vydra, (more)
- 1940
Czech filmmaker Otakar Vavra truly came into his own with his third feature, Guild of the Kutna Hora Virginas, released in the U.S. as The Merry Wives. Though the title was toned down for American consumption, the censors still found fault with the storyline, which concerns a bon vivant (Zdanek Stepanek) who fools around with all available women, especially those who are already married. The hardly exemplary protagonist manages to become a hero by exposing a nest of crooks operating in his community. Much screen time is expended upon Adina Matlova as the town trollop, who turns out to be the most likeable character in the film. Though it earned an award at the Venice Film Festival, The Merry Wives was banned in Czechoslovakia when the Nazis came to power. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zdenek Stepanek, Ladislav Pesek, (more)
