Essential World Cinema: 5 Best Czech Movies

Sometimes when I sit down to look at a nation’s cinema, such as Russia or Germany, I have a pretty good idea of the films I will include. I thought that was going to be the case here, with Czech cinema. I expected my five films would come from the Czechoslovak New Wave, the period from 1963-1968 that is almost universally considered Czech cinema’s golden age.

But I ended up being surprised by the depth of Czech cinema outside those five years. Yes, the Czechoslovak New Wave still dominates here, but I found a cinematic tradition that’s richness extends far beyond that boundary. Below are the five best films to start with when exploring Czech cinema. As a quick note, while some of these films were made in Czechoslovakia, which is now two countries (the Czech Republic and Slovakia), all films on this list were made by Czech filmmakers, so this should be considered a Czech cinema list.

 

Old Czech Legends (1953)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pg22uais9M

As mentioned above, most film buffs only start paying attention to Czech cinema at the start of the New Wave. In general, the period before 1963 is considered a fallow one for the nation’s cinema, and in some ways that is true. Communist party censorship restricted much of what could be produced in live-action cinema. Animation was another matter, however. In particular, stop-motion puppet animation in Czechoslovakia was second to none.

During the 1950s, director Jiří Trnka was doing work as ambitious as Walt Disney. His Old Czech Legends is simply unbelievable. The film follows the history of the Czech people, focusing on the stories of various legendary leaders.

Where the film stands out is in the animation, which, even by today’s standards, is some of the most breathtaking you are likely to come across. The attention to detail is amazing; the movement of clothing, hair, and tree leaves brings the world to life. The lighting is stunning, giving the film the feeling of a dream, establishing its setting in a bygone era.

The cinematography is the film’s most ambitious element. Today stop-motion films use computerized motion-controlled rigs to allow for more dynamic camera movements. These rigs were not invented until the early 1960s, and were not seriously used in film until 1969. Yet the camera in Old Czech Legends moves fluidly, zooming in and out, and moving swiftly over landscapes and battle scenes (some involving dozens of puppets) with ease. It is an unbelievably ambitious work of animation, and the results are simply stunning.

 

Closely Watched Trains (1966)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbp9EKLY4GA

Jiří Menzel’s Closely Watched Trains brings us to the period known as the Czechoslovak New Wave. Briefly, this was a time period when a group of filmmakers who studied at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague became frustrated with the stagnation and political oppression they felt defined Czech cinema and set out to revitalize the medium and challenge the censors. These filmmakers saw themselves in opposition to the state-sanctioned mode of socialist realism, which pushed for films that promoted communism and had a realistic aesthetic and narrative style. This more liberal approach to film content and style was made possible by a period when the state was briefly becoming less restrictive, a period that would lead up to (and ultimately end with) the Prague Spring in 1968.

Films of the Czechoslovak New Wave typically embrace a dark, absurdist comic tone, and Closely Watched Trains is no exception. The plot of the film could easily be mistaken for that of a 1980s sex comedy. Milos is a teenage virgin who begins working at a train station and wants to consummate his relationship with his girlfriend, Masa. His two co-workers are polar opposites: the rebellious, promiscuous Hubicka and the prudish, conservative stationmaster who is frustrated by the antics of his youthful employees.

Somewhat incongruously, the sexual escapades shown in the film take place during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. Mixed in with Milos trying to become a man and Hubicka sleeping with every female co-worker is a resistance plot to destroy German munitions. Somehow the mixing of a light sex farce and Nazi oppression works, and the film unexpectedly links our capacity to enjoy life with the ability to resist oppression.

The actors are all excellent in their comic timing; Václav Neckář is particularly effective in his deadpan performance as the beaten-down Milos. Menzel is also a master at visual comedy; a shot where a near kiss between Milos and Masa is aborted by Masa’s train pulling her out of the frame is a great piece of visual comedy, and probably the most memorable shot of the film.

 

Marketa Lazarova (1967)

František Vláčil’s Marketa Lazarova is considered by many to be the best Czech film ever made. The film is set in medieval Bohemia, and focuses on two rival clans who make their living robbing those who pass through their territories. One day one of the clans, led by patriarch Kozlik, makes the mistake of attacking a group that includes a new bishop appointed by the king. The king sends a regiment to arrest Kozlik, who hides in the forest with the rest of his forces. Meanwhile his son, Mikolas, captures and rapes Marketa, the daughter of the rival clan leader, Lazar.

There are many subplots, and the rather long film can be a bit tough to follow on a first viewing. The tone of the film can best be described as Game of Thrones-meets-Tarkovsky. The film takes the same unromantic approach to the medieval era as George R.R. Martin’s series. Here the world is ugly, dirty, and amoral. Knights are not heroes who save damsels, but vicious thieves and murderers who rape and pillage their way to prosperity. The battles are brutal and savage; the final conflict between Kozlik’s forces and the King’s regiment is shot on an uphill angle, emphasizing the drudgery of the battle rather than glorifying it.

At the same time, the film adopts the slower, more elegiac pace of Tarkovsky. The film is filled with long shots that take in the breadth of the frozen marshes and forests that make up the setting. It also has a haunting soundtrack (one of the best in film history) that gives the film a mystical quality, fitting given that one of the themes is the conflict between pagan and Christian beliefs. The end result is a blend of spirituality and brutality that is shockingly effective, and stunning to watch.

 

The Fireman’s Ball (1967)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdKTksXW30Y

Milos Forman is almost certainly the most internationally successful filmmaker to come out of the Czechoslovak New Wave. After the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia that ended the Prague Spring, he went into exile in the West. He would go on to win two Academy Awards for Best Director for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Amadeus (1984), and be nominated for a third with The People Vs. Larry Flynt (1996). The Fireman’s Ball, which shortly after its release was “banned forever” by the Czech government, was the last film Forman would make in his home country.

Like Closely Watched Trains, this film is a comedy with a bit of an absurdist, satirical edge. In the film, a local volunteer fire company is holding a party to celebrate the retirement of their former chairman. They have decorated the dancehall, arranged for a lottery with prizes, prepared a gift for the guest of honor, and set up a beauty pageant. None of this goes to plan, and chaos quickly erupts, some due to the corruption of the firemen and guests (tampering with the beauty pageant, continual theft of the prizes), and some due to chance (a fire breaks out during the festivities).

The film ran into controversy because it was seen as an allegory for communist rule in the country. Regardless of the plans for the evening, everything falls into chaos due to the corruption, incompetence, and sheer foolishness of those planning it. The Czech authorities saw this as a critique of the government’s bureaucracy and promptly banned the film. Aside from its political importance, the film is hilarious and builds from outrageous incident to even more outrageous incident over the course of its breezy 71 minutes, until everything is in chaos. It is a thoroughly enjoyable experience that ranks with the best film comedies of all time.

I only included three Czechoslovak New Wave films on this list, but as mentioned above, I could have easily found five entries just from this era. If you want to check out more films from the era, the experimental Daisies (1966) is considered one of the most important. If you want a somewhat different tone, there are two films that technically fall out of the time period of the New Wave, but are made by New Wave filmmakers. The Ear (1970) is a very tense political thriller and Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1971) is an imaginative adult fairy tale that really should be seen by any fans of Guillermo del Toro.

 

The Karamazovs (2008)

While the Czechoslovak New Wave is the richest period in Czech cinema, there have been a number of excellent films since the Velvet Revolution of 1989 peacefully ended communist rule. Petr Zelenka’s The Karamazovs, for example, ranks among the very best the country has ever produced.

The film is about a Prague acting troupe that travels to Poland to perform a stage production of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov in an alternative drama festival. The play will be performed in a Krakow factory alongside several other performances. Much of the film is simply the play’s rehearsal, so it is in a very real sense an adaptation of Dostoevsky’s novel. However, the film also covers the backstage drama of the acting troupe and the working-class spectators who are dealing with their own trauma.

It is this two-layer narrative that makes the film so effective. Through the play itself, the film touches on the themes of responsibility and guilt present in the original text, but then highlights these themes by looking at the lives of those performing and observing the play. In this way the film becomes a commentary on art and the role it plays in our lives.

There is a brilliant scene towards the end of the film where one of the actors, heartbroken by a recent tragedy, wanders around the factory, stumbling upon a puppet show. While watching, she begins to laugh, briefly forgetting the trauma. The scene is reminiscent of the cartoon scene from Sullivan’s Travels, and is a powerful, quiet moment that reminds us of the importance of art.

Some other post-Velvet Revolution films that are worth checking out include the heart-warming (if a bit Oscar-baiting) Kolya (1996) and Walking Too Fast (2009), which focuses on the Czech secret police during the 1980s and might be considered a Czech version of the German The Lives of Others (2006).