Who wouldn't know the main character of Jaroslav Hasek's immortal novel "The Fates of the Good Soldier Svejk", a prototype of the Czech anti-hero, Private Josef Svejk? For many decades, Hasek's work has been bringing a good mood and laughter to readers both in Czechia and abroad. The Svejk theme also became the basis for several Czech and foreign films. The most famous of these is a two-part adaptation, which was shot in 1956 and 1957 by director Karel Stekly with Rudolf Hrusinsky in the main role. Rudolf Hrusinsky and other representatives of Hasek's characters - Svatopluk Benes, Milos Kopecky, Josef Hlinomaz, Frantisek Filipovsky - fulfilled the classic general idea of the heroes, which we know from Josef Lada's illustrations.
This film is almost as good as the book by Jaroslav Hasek (and almost no film is as good as a book). The film is timeless.
The main credit for this goes to Rudolf Hrusinsky in the main role. Describing how amazing he is in this role would be just bringing sand to the beach. But I must also mention the excellent Milos Kopecky, who in the role of the eternally drunk field curator also performs an award-winning performance.
Did you know that because of the role, Rudolf Hrusinsky underwent a weight gaining process and gained 20 kilos?