Josef Somr Movies

With his bittersweet, slice-of-life seriocomedy Of Parents and Children (adapted from the novel of the same title by Emil Hakl) director Vladimir Michalek explores the many layers and nuances of an eminently complex relationship between two individuals. At the heart of the story are an unnamed septuagenarian father who once worked as a microbiologist (Josef Somr) and his fortysomething son (David Novotny). Each man lives alone, and the only other common thread between them is a walk that they share, once per week, beginning outside of the penguin house at the zoo where the father gives a regular guest lecture. Over the course of these walks, many conversations emanate, demonstrating conflicting and contradictory feelings of love, hate, flashes of understanding and a complete lack of empathy. Each location that the men pass seems to evoke limitless associations from the past, demonstrating the men's long history together as they vacillate between estrangement and spiritual and emotional unity. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A good-hearted prince from another kingdom wanders into a nearby realm that has been overtaken by dark forces in Czech director Roman Vavra's 2003 family-oriented fairy tale Cert Vi Proc (The Devil Knows Why). The realm of King Dobromil has descended into evil after the formerly good king makes a pact with Satan, which essentially transfers power to one of the king's ministers, a particularly diabolical man who proceeds to milk the kingdom's worth for his own personal gain. As the kingdom's populace begins to despair, hope returns to the countryside upon the arrival of a wandering knight named Philip. Actually a prince in disguise, Philip fulfills a somewhat distrusted prophecy and takes it upon himself to rescue King Dobromil and his kingdom from the Devil, while earning the respect and admiration of the king's daughter in the process. The fourth film from Vavra, The Devil Knows Why was selected as a participant in the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

First love in the summer is the focus of this gentle drama. 15-year old Emil is apprenticed to a doctor for the summer. Along with his five daughters he follows him on his rounds. Emil is enchanted by the girls, but each one treats him differently. Some seek to take care of him, and others flirt shamelessly. Ema, the youngest is jealous of his crush on Dora. When a roving magician and his terminally ill wife come to town, the trouble starts. Dora begins using Emil as a runner between she and the magician who are having an affair. After she and the magician run off together the heartbroken lad considers giving up his apprenticeship and going home to his parents. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The life of turn-of-the-century Czech soprano Emma Destinn is chronicled in this film biography. She rose to become a major star at the Metropolitan Opera who frequently sang with Caruso. She also became a Czech spy during WW I. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This is an interesting children's tale with a cast of splendid characters. Martin (Ondrej Pavelka) is a dashing student who has taken on the task of freeing a beautiful princess (Julie Juristova) from captivity. Her captor is an evil astrologer (Juraj Kukura) who needs real human hearts for his nefarious purposes. The astrologer lives in an enormous castle, making Martin's vow to save the Princess even more of a challenge. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Years of practice in a big-city medical clinic have burned Dr. Meluzin (Rudolf Hursinsky) out, and he longs for quieter waters. He takes a job as the head of a country clinic and meets with approval from the local nurse, who sees that he treats each patient as an individual and a human being, even though he is a martinet about record-keeping. The dramas of his new life in the countryside keep him busy and emotionally engaged, and he swiftly wins friends - as would any doctor whose motto is: "humility is good." ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

It's pretty clear that Stalin adopted a "collectivist farm" policy for reasons which had everything to do with destroying the pre-existing society, and virtually nothing to do with legitimately Maxist theories or, for that matter, principles of agriculture. As a result, millions of rural people were relocated and resettled over the years, many of them dying of starvation in the process. Nonetheless, collectivization became an almost religious tenet when new countries were brought into the communist (Soviet Russian) fold. In this Czech movie, the story of the widow of a former landowner who was stripped of all his belongings is told. The man himself has died, but his widow is determined that somehow she will manage to get him buried in the family crypt, despite opposition from party officials. However, her activities served to remind people of their old values, and they are roused to protest against the government. This movie was filmed during a brief thaw in the cold war, but was withheld from circulation until 1990, as the thaw was not sustained long enough for it to be distributed. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

All three of the tales in this anthology are set in Prague. The first two tales, "The Bread Shoes" and "The Poisoned Poisoner," come from medieval times. The third, "The Golem," is a Yiddish legend that tells the story of a Polish rabbi who creates a live clay man for Rudolph II. When the renowned Rabbi Loew hears about the golem, he hires a mute girl to seduce the errant rabbi. She does and is able to wipe the magical formula that animates the golem from its forehead causing the clay to simply crumble. The rabbi too is destroyed. Later it is discovered that girl is a golem too. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Czech director Jiri Menzel's Closely Watched Trains (Ostre sledovane vlaky) was the recipient of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1967. In the story, based on Bohumil Hrabal's novel of the same name, Vaclav Neckar plays a Czech railroad worker during the Nazi occupation. He undergoes several philosophical changes as he becomes attracted to the Czech underground. Determining at last that his own existence hardly matters in the scheme of things, Neckar volunteers for a suicide mission. Ordered by the Czech Communist government to return his Oscar, Menzel refused, opting instead to make a "repentance" film which sang the praises of collectivism. This second film has long since been forgotten, while Closely Watched Trains remains on record as one of the biggest financial successes of the Eastern European Cinema. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi