Jan Hrebejk Movies

 

A ragtag group of friends and drinking buddies help a pal turn the tables on a con man in this easy-going comedy. Kaja (Miroslav Vladyka) is a sweet natured but easily confused man who works as a security guard at a museum near Prague. Kaja is a regular at a local tavern run by Tonda (Jiri Schmitzer), an ex-con with a soft spot for guys who've been let out of prison and are looking to start their lives over. One day, while shopping at the local market, a trickster takes advantage of Kaja and bilks him out of all his money in a rigged game of chance. It isn't until after the fact that Kaja realizes he's been cheated, and when Tonda hears about what's happened, he decides he and his friends need to get justice for Kaja. With the help of one-time pickpocket Pepe (Vladimir Javorsky), magician turned gambler Mrklas (Boleslav Polivka), poker sharks Balun (Josef Somr) and Lada (Petr Forman), Tonda's long-suffering girl friend Andula (Lenka Vlasakova) and Kaja's often exasperated wife Jitka (Simona Babcakova), Tonda maps out an elaborate scheme to outwit the con man who swindled Kaja. U Me Dobry (aka Fine By Me) was adapted from a short story by Czech writer Petr Sabach. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Referred to in one publication as the Czechoslovakian equivalent of The Big Chill, acclaimed writer-director Jan Hrebejk's ensemble comedy-drama Teddy Bear (AKA Medvidek, 2007) observes the nuptial relationships of three long-acquainted male buddies who appear to have everything: affluent OB-GYN Roman (Roman Luknar) is expecting his first baby with wife Anna (Anna Geislerova; Ivan - a Czech diplomat to Italy - is planning a natal conception with wife Johana (Natasa Burger); and art gallery owner Jiri (Jiri Machacek) enjoys the the vicissitudes of early parenthood with wife Vanda (Tana Vilhelmova), a coffee house proprietress. Hrebejk, of course, begins on this polished surface and breaks it open to reveal unhappiness and desperation beneath, thus cross-sectioning each marriage as it hits a point of crisis: one wife confesses to a friend of a long-standing deception regarding the paternity of her child; another boots her husband out of the house for lipping off to her; and a third learns of her spouse's infidelity and parenthood with another woman. Meanwhile, Roman's mom and dad (Vera Kresadlova and Czech film giant Jiri Menzel) remain committed to a lengthy marriage in spite of occasional difficulties, suggesting that commitment is not the priority that it once was in Czechoslovakian society, and Vanda's sister shocks everyone by planning for single motherhood. Petr Jarchovsky co-authored the script with Hrebejk. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

The often uncomfortable bonds of family intersect with the wary political and social allegiances of the Czech Republic following the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and the end of Soviet occupation in this drama from director Jan Hrebejk and screenwriter Petr Jarchovsky. Goran and Milan (Zdenek Suchy and Jan Budar) are criminals who, while ferrying a truckload of illegal aliens into the Czech Republic, discover that one of their cargo has misplaced a baby; looking to turn a profit wherever they can, they sell the lost child to Lubos and Eman (Marek Daniel and Pavel Liska), two petty thieves who run a black-market adoption agency. Among Lubos and Eman's clients are Miluska and Frantisek (Natasa Burger and Jiri Machacek), a barren and lonely couple who are unable to adopt due to Frantisek's criminal record, which amounts to a bout of drunken foolishness during a soccer game. Meanwhile, Martin Horecky (Petr Forman) is a Czech expatriate living in Australia who comes home for a visit following the death of his father, who abandoned the family before Martin was born. Circumstances prove not to be especially welcoming for Martin; his mother (Emilia Vasaryova), who has become poisoned with race hate, invites two guests for his homecoming dinner, a half-sister he's never met (Kristyna Liska-Bokova) and her mother, who was once Martin's girlfriend (Ingrid Timkova). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A man and a woman battle with deceit and infidelity as they struggle to survive Hitler's fascist regime in this period drama. Marie and Josef Cizek (Anna Siskova and Boleslav Polivka) are a couple living in a small Czechoslovakian village during the Nazi occupation of World War II. Marie and Josef's marriage is showing signs of strain as a result of the political tensions surrounding them, as well as frustrations over their inability to have children due to Josef's sterility. When a neighboring Jewish family is deported and sent to Theresenstadt, their teenage son David (Csongor Kassai) manages to escape, and the Cizeks warily agree to hide him in their home. An acquaintance of the couple, Horst Prohazka (Jaroslav Dusek), has become a Nazi collaborator and a minor local functionary with the party; he's never made a secret of his interest in Marie, and he now uses his new authority to pay a number of uninvited visits to the Cizeks' modest home. Marie and Josef begin to suspect that Horst knows they're hiding David, so when Horst asks the couple to board a Nazi clerk (Martin Huba) in their spare bedroom, they have to quickly fabricate a plausible excuse to keep him away. Marie tells Horst they need the spare room as a nursery, because they will soon be expecting a baby. Now, in order to make the lie real, Marie must convince David to impregnate her; this will keep the Nazis at bay and allow her to have the baby she's wanted, but it drives an even deeper wedge between herself and Josef. Musime Si Pomahat received its North American premiere at the 2000 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi