Tell Me Something About Yourself - Martin

Tell Me Something About Yourself - Martin 1994

1

"The whole film talks about the time when I was first locked up, from sixteen till now, I’m 22 now, and during that whole time I was out maybe five months, and I’ve really had it by now. It’s also about why I’d given my life to Jesus Christ and then failed that Jesus in me because I was tempted by earthly pleasures; and it’s also about how every time I’m ready to start a new life, I get locked up again because it’s always too late. It’s just too late. That’s the greatest shame and that’s what it’s about..."

1994

The Wonderful Years That Sucked

The Wonderful Years That Sucked 1997

6.00

Capturing the dark humor of Czech author Michal Viewegh's chronicle of life after the Velvet Revolution, this black comedy chronicles three decades in the life of a small Czech family. While the original novel centered on the protagonist Kvido from his conception through his adulthood, first time director Petr Nikolaev and screenwriter Jan Novak changed the focus to his parents Milena, an extremely self-effacing lawyer who acts on stage in her spare time, and Ales, a rather aimless government worker who tends to drift wherever the wind takes him. The lives of Ales and Milena change dramatically following the Russian invasion of Prague in 1968.

1997

Byl jednou jeden polda II – major Maisner opět zasahuje!

Byl jednou jeden polda II – major Maisner opět zasahuje! 1997

3.90

It all begins at Prague Airport, where American agents have brought Major Maisner, who has been expelled from the United States, in handcuffs. He returns to his place of work, the Central Police Academy, despite having been demoted to lieutenant for his "performance" and his position as academy commander having been taken over by the newly promoted Captain Hrubec. Maisner meets his former students, who now teach at the school. They all welcome him enthusiastically and receive gifts from him. While psychologist Kudláková, who is attracted to commanding types, has lost interest in the demoted Maisner and is now passionately in love with Hrubec, Boženka Vinklářová, who has broken up with the gypsy Štefan and now teaches dactyloscopy at the school, focuses her attention on him. Maisner recounts how he jumped off a skyscraper in America to defend himself against Simona Ptáčková's advances.

1997

The Tinderbox

The Tinderbox 1987

1

A modern version of a classical fairy-tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a veteran who got rich thanks to a magic flint and thus he could marry a beautiful princess.

1987

Bohemia Docta or the Labyrinth of the World and the Lust-House of the Heart (A Divine Comedy)

Bohemia Docta or the Labyrinth of the World and the Lust-House of the Heart (A Divine Comedy) 2000

1

A labyrinthine portrait of Czech culture on the brink of a new millennium. Egon Bondy prophesies a capitalist inferno, Jim Čert admits to collaborating with the secret police, Jaroslav Foglar can’t find a bottle-opener, and Ivan Diviš makes observations about his own funeral. This is the Czech Republic in the late 90s, as detailed in Karel Vachek’s documentary.

2000

Nexus 2.431

Nexus 2.431 1994

2.80

This international co-production, shot at Barrandov Studios with international cast including Czech actors is an attempt to create a sci-fi fantasy in the tradition of Star Wars and Star Trek. Sometime in the distant future, several earthlings turn up on a strange planet ruled over by a despotic ruler with magic powers. A young earth-man initiates a successful uprising.

1994

The Giants

The Giants 1970

1

A blue dwarf and a red dwarf get into a vicious argument. Each ultimately calls upon a matching giant to protect them, with unexpected results.

1970

What Is to Be Done? A Journey from Prague to Ceský Krumlov, or How I Formed a New Government

What Is to Be Done? A Journey from Prague to Ceský Krumlov, or How I Formed a New Government 1996

1

Quite a few years have passed since November 1989. Czechoslovakia has been divided up and, in the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus’s right-wing government is in power. Karel Vachek follows on from his film New Hyperion, thus continuing his series of comprehensive film documentaries in which he maps out Czech society and its real and imagined elites in his own unique way.

1996

Prague Stories

Prague Stories 1999

5.00

A four-story omnibus depicting different Czech slices-of-life from the titular city.

1999

Fany

Fany 1995

7.20

Oligophrenic Fany (Bohdalová) lives with her aunt who suddenly manages to travel abroad. Fany has to move to her sister (Jirásková). Two very different women, one mentally disabled and the second one intelligent doctor has to live together and learn from each other about tolerance, loneliness, life and why call dogs "Mister".

1995

Helimadoe

Helimadoe 1993

7.00

A lyrical story from the beginning of 20th century, with the atmosphere of a small-town environment, distinctive characters, and a subtle analysis of human nature. It takes place in a small town in southern Bohemia, where a perceptive adolescent boy experiences his first emotional enchantment and a deep crisis. Helimadoe are also the initial letters of the names of the five distinctive daughters of Hanzelín, a rough country doctor who not only treats a seriously ill boy, but also helps him overcome his painful emotional turmoil with his wisdom.

1993

Fimfarum 2

Fimfarum 2 2006

7.40

The sequel to the successful film Fimfárum by Jan Werich. Four brand new stories “for clever children and clever adults” from the popular book written by Jan Werich. Břetislav Pojar introduces the story of little Tom Thumb full of twists and adventure. Aurel Klimt brings to life three brothers, The Hunchbacks of Damascus, re-creating the atmosphere of the Middle East and variety of the oriental storytelling. Vlasta Pospíšilová’s Three Sisters and One Ring shows a rural Decameron-like manual on how to enchant one’s loved ones with a mere ring and Jan Balej lets his characters Marek and Kouba re-live an ancient fairy-tale about greed, devils and natural phenomena in his The Sea, Uncle, Why is it Salty?

2006

Teeny-Tiny and the Witch Woman

Teeny-Tiny and the Witch Woman 1980

6.30

A deliciously scary story about a boy who outsmarts an old witch-woman before she can have him and his brothers for dinner.

1980

Marian

Marian 1996

6.00

Told via flashback, this raw, emotional drama chronicles the events that led a 22-year-old Czech Gypsy to prison. Marian was born to an alcoholic father and a terrible mother. As a result he is sent to a government orphanage where he is labelled a problem child for his inability to speak Czech. Life in the orphanage is devoid of love and offers only minimal physical comforts. Sometimes life there is brutal. His one bright spot was the time he first spent with a kindly and encouraging teacher who inspired in him hope for a better future. One day something goes wrong and the teacher is forced to punish Marian who retaliates by stabbing her. Marian is a teen by the time he is released from a juvenile reformatory. He falls in love for the first time, but because it is a foreign emotion, he doesn't know how to deal with it. By this time, the cruelty that has marked his life in institutions seems to have fated him to be a criminal and for Marian there can be no turning back.

1996

Traps

Traps 1998

4.90

After two troubled but powerful men rape a young hitchhiker who happens to be a vet, she drugs them and removes their testicles.

1998

Charlie Needs a Cloak

Charlie Needs a Cloak 1977

7.00

A shepherd named Charlie need a new cloak, so he shears a sheep and makes one from it's wool.

1977

Řád

Řád 1994

8.00

Set in 1776, this historical film by Petr Hvizd concerns an army deserter who takes refuge within the walls of the Convent of St. Claire. The investigation to find him soon becomes a question of morality concerning the value of human life in the context of the diversity and hierarchy of social laws.

1994