Jirí Menzel Movies
With his debut feature film Closely Watched Trains (1966), Czechoslovakian filmmaker Jiøí Menzel became an important member in Czech New Wave cinema and won an Academy Award. Menzel started out as an assistant director and occasional actor for Vera Chytilova following his graduation from the Prague film school F.A.M.U. In 1965, Menzel directed an episode ("The Death of Mr. Baltazar") for the feature anthology Pearls of the Deep, a tribute to distinguished Czech author Bohumil Hrabal. Later that year, he contributed an episode in a similar tribute to the writings of Josef Skvorecky, Crime at the Girls School. Following the success of Closely Watched Trains, Menzel directed Capricious Summer (1968) and turned in a great performance as a tightrope walker (Menzel is actually an accomplished balancer and performs regularly on-stage). In 1969, he made Larks on a String, considered by many to be his best work. Unfortunately, its critical stance on Communism led to its being banned from release until 1990 when it played internationally. Because the film was banned, Menzel was barred from filmmaking until 1974 when he publicly announced that he supported Communism. He then made Who Looks for Gold?, but has since disowned the film because of the personal price he had to pay to make it. From the late '70s through the mid-'80s, Menzel made non-political, nostalgic comedies that were almost slapstick at times. He had international success in 1986 with the delightful My Sweet Little Village. In the late '80s, Menzel again returned to political activism and continued to make films though the mid-'90s. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi- 2009
Enemies evolve into allies under unusual circumstances in this satiric comedy from the Czech Republic. In 1968, Czechoslovakia is on the verge of a revolution, and Polish troops are sent into the country to put down the insurgence. Romek (Przems_aw Bluszcz) is a Polish soldier who has been having an affair with the wife of his commanding officer; while Romek believes the officer is unaware of the infidelity, he senses that his cover has been blown when he's assigned to roll across the Czech border in a broken-down old tank that barely runs. As Romek and his comrades make their way into Czechoslovakia, they get lost and things get worse when they crash into a small town tavern, where many of the locals are throwing a party for the local postmaster. The arrival of Romek and his fellow Poles is not welcomed with enthusiasm by the Czechs, but when the soldiers realize their tank is not going anywhere, they convince some of the locals to help them, and in time both sides develop a wary trust as they realize they're all pawns in a larger political game. Over beer and dumplings, the Poles and the Czechs become friends and romance is even in the air as Petra (Martha Ossiva) falls for the tank's radio operator. Operace Dunaj (aka Operation Danube) was the first feature film from director Jacek Glomb. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eva Holubova, Jirí Menzel, (more)
Despite the 1997 death of longtime friend and Closely Watched Trains collaborator Bohumil Hrabal, 1960s-era Czech New Wave filmmaker Jirí Menzel enters into a postmortem collaboration with the famed author in this pitch-black comedy detailing the shrewd rise of an ambitious waiter. All diminutive manservant Jan Dite (Ivan Barnev) ever wanted was to be filthy rich and to preside over his very own hotel. As a young man coming of age in the 1930s, Jan was preoccupied by beautiful women and awestricken by the fact that anyone, be they rich or poor, would bend to their knees to pick up a coin. With World War II fast approaching and the Germans steadily taking occupation of Czech territory, the opportunistic servant begins his rapid ascent up the hospitality ladder by working for a number of high-profile figures. Though Jan was never a man to settle down with just one woman, his growing attraction to Aryan beauty Liza (Julia Jentsch) soon finds the aspiring hotelier proposing marriage. Of course, a blueblood Teuton like Liza could never wed a man unable to provide proof of his German heritage, but that doesn't stop Jan from doing his best to please her in the bedroom. Later, when Liza is killed retrieving a box of valuable stamps acquired during her stint at the Russian front, Jan uses the valuable collector's items to purchase the very hotel in which he used to work. Unfortunately for Jan, good luck is always followed by bad news, and it's not long before his life's ambition comes crumbling down all around him. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ivan Barnev, Oldrich Kaiser, (more)
- 2006
A virtuous man discovers just how deep corruption can run, and how easy one can succumb to it, in this satiric comedy-drama from Hungarian filmmaker Istvan Szabo. When a scandal brings down the attorney general of a small but prosperous community near Budapest, Istvan Kopjass (Sandor Csanyi), a man with a clear record and impeccable ethics, is invited to take over the position. While his wife Lina (Ildiko Toth) is wary of the appointment and wants to avoid uprooting their children, Istvan is convinced he can make positive change and he accepts. However, only a few days after taking his new position, Istvan becomes aware of how challenging his job can be when the town's mayor (Oleg Tabakov) persuades him to abandon plans for a new tax schedule that would lower assessments for the poor. Istvan also discovers nearly everyone he meets claims to be some sort of distant relative, and as a consequence wants some sort of special consideration that he often finds difficult to refuse. Istvan's downfall begins when a less than honest banker (Karoly Eperjes) arranges for him to get a special deal on a large house in exchange for some favors, and things get much worse when the banker's attractive wife (Erika Marozsan) uses her charms to lure Istvan into some serious white collar crime. Rokonok (aka Relatives) was adapted from the novel of the same name by Zsigmond Moricz. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sándor Csányi, Ildiko Toth, (more)
- 2002
Eight master directors of world cinema combine forces for this omnibus film that focuses cumulatively on the subject of time. Bookended by cello interludes, Ten Minutes Older: The Cello presents just one parameter to each of its filmmakers: no final entry can be more or less than ten minutes long. The resulting films run the gamut of styles and moods, beginning with Bernardo Bertolucci's Histoire d'Eaux, which presents an Indian fable about a mentor's impatience. In Mike Figgis' entry About Time 2, the director continues with the experimental structure he pioneered in Timecode; similarly, Jean-Luc Godard uses his time allotment to present a fractured series of clips on youth, death, and love. Another non-narrative entry, Volker Schlöndorff's The Enlightenment presents a series of images on racism. Claire Denis' effort Vers Nancy chronicles a philosophical discussion on time between a teacher and student on a train ride; in Jirí Menzel's Ten Minutes After, the effects of time on aging Czech actor Rudolf Hrusinsky are documented. In perhaps the film's most narrative-oriented segment, director Michael Radford offers up a sci-fi vision of an astronaut returning to earth to find that his son has aged faster than he has. Ten Minutes Older: The Cello is a companion piece to 2002's Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet, which aired in the U.S. on the Showtime cable network. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Amit Arroz, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, (more)
- 1997
Though Hungarian politics play a key role in providing the backdrop for this account of a young woman's life, the real focus is on the long-term romance between the woman and her married lover. The tale begins just before the outbreak of WW II. Franciska is a country girl working in a mansion. One day she is hiding out in a bomb shelter when she meets Lajos, her married neighbor. Something clicks between them and soon they spend every Sunday tooling about on his Harley Davidson. It doesn't take many such Sundays for the two to fall in love. But then the war erupts and Lajos, who is Jewish, suddenly disappears. Franciska doesn't see him again until she establishes herself in Budapest and gets a job as a servant in an apartment block. She is happy when Lajos suddenly shows up at her door and they are able to resume their weekly trysts. The relationship deepens, but she refrains from accepting his proposal because Lajos' wife is terribly ill. Later Franciska joins the newly established social police force and eventually rises through the ranks. She proves to be an excellent cop, and is adept at blithely ignoring the injustice she inadvertently supports until a sudden mysterious event changes everything. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 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, Rovi
- 1994
This Austrian comedy, with an Austrian and Czech cast, looks at international business in East Europe. Eva is a hotel bar dancer. When the eighty-something Japanese businessman Harada asks her to marry him and front a business deal that would allow him to buy property in Prague, Eva readily agrees. Though the elderly Harada has an exuberant sex drive, his body cannot stand the strain and he dies. Eva is left unwed and broke. She then tries to con Christian, a hunky Austrian, into marrying her. Christian has come to Prague to buy the same property. His lover/business partner is Liane. When he returns to Vienna, Eva follows him and becomes involved in a threesome. A bidding war ensues after Harada's partners show up with Eva's poor ex-husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michaela Kuklova, Gregor Bloeb, (more)
- 1994
A satirical look at Stalinism and Soviet bureaucracy, the movie is based upon a previously banned Russian novel by Vladimir Voinovich. Ivan Chonkin, an uncomplicated man with a taste for sex, is a soldier assigned to guard a broken down airplane in Red, a tiny rural village. Unbeknownst to him, World War II has erupted and his superior officers have forgotten about him. Chonkin enrages the neighbors when he moves into the home of his lover Nyura, the town postal clerk. To get revenge, the neighbors send an anonymous letter to the secret police accusing Ivan of being a spy. The dreaded NKVD immediately go the remote village to arrest Ivan, but he refuses to leave his post without direct orders from his general. In the end, Ivan Chonkin triumphs over both the secret police and the Soviet army. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gennady Nazarov, Zoya Buryak, (more)
- 1993
In this cynical comedy, an renowned, out-of-work, unpublished "underground" writer from formerly Communist Poland is driven to unusually desperate measures in order to get his work published. Stan (Jiri Menzel) has been living in the attic apartment of his ex-wife's home, which he shares with a journalist friend (Andre Dussolier). One day, he has an accident which convinces his ex-wife and her current husband (Anna Romantowska and Pierre Arditi) that he's suicidal, and they hastily contact a media representative to see if some sort of publicity can't be arranged so that Stan's work can be published and they can benefit, if not from the money, then from their association with him. The organization they contact says that they will be happy to publish his writings, if he will commit suicide live, on television, in St. Peter's square, while the Pope is delivering an address. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jirí Menzel, André Dussollier, (more)
- 1993
When the people in your life are just too treacherous to deal with in a straightforward manner, the temptation to yield to them and to become involved with the problems of relative strangers, which seem more solveable, becomes overwhelming. This is what Tomas (Juraj Nvota) has done for some time. If he appears clueless, compared to his son he's a beacon of insight. His parents are nonstop guilt-factories, his ex-wife is an inveterate harpy, and he himself is out of work and is almost too intellectual to live. You'd think he might find the attentions of an attractive and straightforward English teacher (Gina Bellman) a relief by comparison, but perhaps her simplicity is just too difficult for him to fathom. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Juraj Nvota, Gina Bellman, (more)
- 1991
Unlike any other opera, the so-called Beggar's Opera is not just one composition, but a lineage of adapted compositions, beginning with the original hugely successful 1728 political satire written by Englishman John Gay. Composers and writers have penned variations on it ever since. The most famous of these was A Threepenny Opera by Bertholt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Some things these compositions share in common is their setting among the poor and criminal classes, and the roguish character Macheath. This production is based on an adaptation of Gay's original by Vaclav Havel the freedom-fighter, writer and philosopher who became the first (and only) president of the united post-communist country of Czechoslovakia, and it retains many traces of its theatrical origins. Film reviewers were not too tolerant of what they called "slavish adherence" to the noted Czech writer's stage production, but theater, philosophy and history buffs may feel otherwise. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Josef Abrhám, Marian Labuda, (more)
- 1989
This bedroom farce takes place at a large country estate in the period between the two world wars. It has been rented by Stoklasa (Marian Labuda) a somewhat uncouth but very wealthy businessman, who hopes to buy it. He and his family and staff have settled down comfortably when they are visited by a nobleman acquaintance, Duke Alexi (Josef Abrham), whose genial, boisterous ways and penchant for women sets the whole region in an uproar. The hero of this tale is Spera (Jaromir Hanzlik) a young man with a similar yearning to bed women. He is constantly frustrated in his attempts by the ever-present duke, who always manages to get to the girls first. While that is going on, the businessman's daughter and the son of people from a neighboring estate have been seeing each other, and are constantly being frustrated by their inability to find a private spot to make love in. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marian Labuda, Jaromir Hanzlik, (more)
- 1987
A family who struggles to get by uses their neighbor's luxury apartment while he is away in this delightful situation comedy. Sysel (Marian Zednikovic) lives with his wife and two children in a one-room flat. While practicing his karate moves one day, Sysel accidentally kicks a hole in the wall, and they notice that their neighbor, a magician who is often on the road, lives in luxury. When Sysel is mistaken for the missing magician, his wife effectively passes herself off as a snake dancer to continue the ruse. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marian Zednikovic, Zuzana Bydzovská, (more)
- 1985
- PG
Jiri Menzel of Closely Watched Trains fame directed the sweet little Czechoslovakian comedy/drama My Sweet Little Village. The life's blood of the titular community is a collective farm. Marian Labuda is the farm's truck driver, and also the partner-protector of Janos Ban, who is the village idiot. Like everyone else in the village, Labuda has watched out for Ban and covered up his mistakes, but in recent weeks the situation has become intolerable and Labuda demands a new partner. As Ban prepares to be relocated to Prague, we cut away to various subplots, all of which lead to the same conclusion: the hapless Ban has always been the "glue" that has held the community together. A contrite Labuda heads for Prague to invite Ban to come back home. Originally titled Vesnicko Ma Stediskova, My Sweet Little Village was a 1986 Academy Award "best foreign-language picture" nominee. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Janos Ban, Marian Labuda, (more)
- 1984
Acclaimed Czech director Jiri Menzel has pulled off another successful collaboration with writer Bohumil Hrabal in this light, sometimes saucy farce about two warring hunting factions in a small village and how they end up in a rousing, comic showdown. The village community is made up of a broad spectrum of eccentrics, from the farmer who escorts his goats to pasture in an old Pontiac car, to the sign painters who put up their handiwork slogans in the most unlikely places; there is humor enough for everyone. Then one day three hunters from one faction chase after a boar they found in the woods, and the wounded animal runs into a schoolhouse for refuge. Since the schoolhouse is in neutral territory, it becomes the scene for a reckoning between the two hunting factions. The upshot is a wild time in the local pub -- with some unexpected consequences. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rudolf Hrusínsky, Jaromir Hanzlik, (more)
- 1984
In a charming comedy set in the 1920s, Czech director Jiri Menzel gives an inspired rendition of a bemused, confused Dr. Gyorgy Racz who returns to Budapest after a long absence and comes across Lajos Nemeth (Miklos Tolnay), an old friend in deep trouble. Lajos has several women on a string, or multiple strings, and his mixed-up love-life is all the more impossible because some of these women have very jealous husbands. Gyorgy steps into this romantic maze and finds it difficult to disentangle the mess without making matters worse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jirí Menzel, Mari Kiss, (more)
- 1982
A young doctor and his attractive wife have settled in a village of eccentrics that houses two school marms longing for a good relationship with a man, an elderly woman who intermittently pretends to be dying, a veterinarian with an alcoholic wife, and other odd characters. To top everything off, there is a military base nearby that is constantly shooting off missiles and explosives. As though this environment were not enough, the doctor's house and office are rather ramshackle, and when he continues to be underpaid for his services, he stops work in protest. At that point, the hyponchondriac old woman threatens to die one more time, and when the doctor "saves" her life, he is rewarded with new living and working quarters - apparently she is an influential old hyponchondriac. Meanwhile, Mrs. Doctor's off to vamp her husband's former teacher with plans of freeing up her husband so they can go to Budapest, and that plan backfires so badly that she ends up leaving her husband. After a certain hiatus, the doctor goes to a theater with two pregnant school marms in tow, and runs into a surprise from his past. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gábor Máté, Dorottya Udvaros, (more)
- 1981
In this weak parody of gangster movies, Carmello Mushillo (Marian Labuda) is a low man in the hierarchy of Mafia dons, and when he angers the head honcho, he has to flee for his life to Prague with two companions. His flight through various locales and involvement with some petty criminals provide the fodder for what should have been an amusing farce, but the script was not quite up to the challenge. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marian Labuda
- 1981
In a plot that needed a transfusion somewhere mid-stream, a vampire-mobile is the car of the hour for Madam Ferat, who uses its fanged gas pedal to draw blood from the foot of the driver as he, or she, accelerates -- for the car "runs" on blood. A physician begins to investigate the strange car after his fiancée, an ambulance driver, races the four-wheeled vampire rig and realizes it is a bit odd. Halloween goings-on are mixed in with traffic accident statistics in what might be a plea for mass transit. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jirí Menzel, Dagmar Veskrnova, (more)
- 1980
Short Cut is a comedy revealed more in the acting and witty dialogue than in the simple premise of the story itself: how the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal was born. Actually, the story is, in many ways, the writer's conception. The setting is a small town where Hrabal's father Francine (Jiri Schmitzer) is in charge of a large brewery. Both the blessing and bane of his life is his gorgeous wife Marja (Magda Vasaryova). Blessing, because she is not only beautiful but resourceful and intelligent and lively, bane because every other man would like to get to know her better. Marja saves the day more than once, and the couple are happy in their life together. When Francine's brother arrives for a visit, an attraction starts to develop between Marja and her brother-in-law that may have upset the marriage, were it not for a fortuitous accident. Marja sprains her ankle and her husband is "forced" to take care of her - alone. Soon after, the town gets their first radio and life takes a permanent turn for a faster lane. Marja cuts her long, blonde tresses and dons a short skirt which mortifies her husband, until he learns they are going to have a baby. It is 1916 and Hrabal is on the way. The comedy will one day continue as he goes from gestation to adulthood and discovers his writing talents at the age of 48. Coupled with the Czech director Jiri Menzel, Hrabal's comedic writing finds a kindred cinematic spirit. This film won a Jury Prize at the 1981 Venice Film Festival. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jiri Schmitzer, Magda Vasaryova, (more)
- 1980
A bereaved gypsy from the city travels to the country to bury his beautiful young wife. He promises the priest some raffia baskets for his services, but the man is met with resistance by his own people for wanting to give his wife an elaborate funeral. The widower is robbed by the man who delivers the casket to the cemetery, many of the baskets are destroyed, and the man risks drowning by retrieving the remaining baskets from the other side of the river. The gypsies beat the man and steal his baskets in this somber drama of a man's devotion to his late, beloved wife. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- 1978
This 1978 film, set in 1907, is a tribute commemorating the 80th year of Czechoslovak filmmaking. Among the accomplishments of Czechoslovak filmmakers of the period are, the improvement on the Lumière camera and the creation of a commercially viable indigenous cinema years before Berlin. Czechoslovak films were sufficiently distinctive and plentiful to make a notable contribution to world cinema of the time. In this movie, the filming of several one-reel movies of the period is re-enacted ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rudolf Hrusínsky, Jirí Menzel, (more)
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