Description
Directed by Jiří Menzel in 1969, this comedy is based on stories from Bohumil Hrabal’s 1965 book. The film remained locked away for twenty years because it revealed realities of the 1950s that were meant to stay hidden. Its story takes place in the steelworks in Kladno, where “political offenders”—tradespeople, intellectuals, and people with strong religious convictions—are sent to work. Women and girls imprisoned for attempting to escape across the border, known as “hill runners,” also work beside them in the scrapyard. The film unfolds as a series of paradoxical, sometimes grotesque and sometimes lyrical situations. It captures Hrabal’s effort to convey the excitement inspired by the inexhaustibility and beauty of life, which overcomes even the worst obstacles under a ruthless and deceitful dictatorship that the film also quietly but firmly condemns. The cast includes Rudolf Hrušínský, Václav Neckář, Jitka Zelenohorská, Vladimír Ptáček, and Naďa Urbánková. The film has Czech dubbing and Czech and English subtitles.
Information
Author: Hrabal Bohumil, Menzel Jiří
Language: Czech
Publication date: May 1, 2014
Manufacturer: NORTH VIDEO s.r.o.
Genres: Movies, Film and music
Type: Dvd, blu-ray
ISBN/EAN: 8594007304930