Jaromír Šofr

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.

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Czechoslovakia 1918. The newly formed National Assembly has made Stoklasa the administrator of the Kratochvile Castle. Although with no aristocratic background, he is a man of fortune and is trying to buy the castle. To impress his neighbors and the local politicians he invites them to a great hunting party. Uninvited comes a man who claims to be Duke Alexej. Stoklasa believes him to be a hustler. This hustler, however, manages to charm all the women before he leaves.

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The life of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first elected President of Czechoslovakia following the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918.

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In post-WWII Communist Czechoslovakia, several characters considered bourgeois are sentenced to work in a junkyard for rehabilitation. Among them is a young man who pines for a female convict.

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Biography of Karel Čapek.

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The top sport was also closely monitored in the communist era, and officials were naturally bothered that the pentathlon team failed to win the World Championships. But the measures that should have ensured redress were caught up in a web of behind-the-scenes machinations that backfired on the athletes themselves, their endurance and their family backgrounds. While the film has critical ambitions and wants to reveal much of what should have remained hidden from the public eye, it is a rather clumsy and schematic view, not very convincing in terms of realisation.

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Eleven disparate adolescents, gathered for a skiing camp at an isolated winter resort, find themselves preyed upon and set against one another by their three mysterious instructors.

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Dorota, a bad woman married the miller, out of sheer greed drives him to death. She then took the mill away from his son Peter and threw him out of the hime. Lucifer, who is known to rule in hell, sends out the devil Janek. He is supposed to fetch Dorota because the measure of her earthly sins is overflowing. But the devil himself can not handle this evil woman and flees to the military. There he meets Peter. By joining forces, they finally succeed in transporting the wicked Dorota to hell. Since then hell is hell. But for Peter, who is suddenly in possession of a magic mantle, begins a nice time, because strangely, the prince shows great interest in him.

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The movie's main storyline follows the life of Otík, a young man, in a tight-knit village community. The sweet-tempered Otík works as an assistant truck driver with Mr. Pávek, his older colleague and practical-minded neighbor. Pávek's family takes care of Otík, whose parents are dead. However, the two coworkers become at odds over Otík's inability to perform even the simplest tasks. Pávek demands that Otík be transferred to assist another driver, who happens to be a choleric and suspicious man named Turek (Turk in Czech). Rather than work with Turek, Otík decides to accept an offer of employment in Prague, but finds he does not fit in to the city life. After discovering that the transfer of Otík to Prague was a trick by a crooked politician to get a deal on Otík's large inherited house, Pávek agrees to give Otík a second chance and retrieves him from the city to resume their work together.

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Story of an extraordinary musician, violinist, who was famous, but his alcoholism led him to poverty. Now he is playing time from time to rich people. Then Albert meets count Delesov, who tries to change Albert's life. Two different characters, two ways of life confront... Will Albert change? Should he?

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Adaptation of Vladimir Paral's comic novel, which criticizes consumerism as an attitude of life.

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The distressing fate of the Czech great Jan Amos Komenský, forced to leave his homeland after the White Mountain disaster. It depicts his encounters with various European personalities of the 17th century - the Queen of Sweden, artists and scientists. It emphasises the hero's nobility, but also his inner resilience, which allowed him to overcome many personal and professional tragedies. The parable of The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart becomes part of the story. However, Comenius's concept is sculpturally lifeless and, in particular, the religious dimension is "erased" from it. The simplistic biography therefore does not avoid schoolboyish dryness.

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The main characters of the film, inspired by director Soukup's own experiences at the Škodovka factory in Pilsen, are two inseparable friends who, after graduating from the industrial school, join a large engineering plant. Here they spend their first year of post-graduate life, where their vague ideas and ideals clash with their completely different life experience. In addition to their conflicting work experiences, Ondřej and Cyril have to deal with their own personal problems. They have big plans for the future, but their dreams are unexpectedly interrupted by a tragic event.

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An old man is wandering round a badly signposted and as yet mostly under construction Prague housing estate looking for the high rise block into which he is supposed to be moving with his daughter's family. The old granddad from the countryside likes chatting, nothing escapes his eyes and he wants to give everyone a helping hand.

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Carefree young nurse Marta learns upon her husband's death that he was involved in all manner of criminal activity, which puts her life in danger.

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Francin, manager of a small-town brewery, has a charming wife whose abundant blonde locks are an adornment to the town. Maryska looks ethereal but loves meat and beer, while Francin is an ascetic. The strict members of the brewery board of directors come to audit the accounts, but are diverted from concentrating on Francin's detailed reports by Maryska, who has organized a pig-killing feast and is ably assisting the butcher. When she invites the old curmudgeons on the board to enjoy the fresh pork, they are too happy to agree. Francin doesn't know whether he is going to get a permanent contract. To make things worse his brother Pepin - eccentric, noisy and garrulous - turns up on an indefinite visit.

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A young man studying law finds a place to stay with a young conductor, thinking that he will find an idyllic Lesser Town atmosphere here and will be able to prepare for his exams in peace. The house is inhabited by distinctive characters. The owner, who sometimes loses his memory, and his lovely, modest daughter of marriageable age live here, as do an unsuccessful painter and his temperamental wife, as well as a certain mysterious Provazník, who writes anonymous letters to his neighbors in order to have malicious fun at their expense. However, the landlady causes the young man the greatest trouble...

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A twelve-year-old is looking for his biological parents after discovering the fact that he was adopted.

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In an unusual, apolitical approach, director Jaromil Jires has fashioned a standard drama that features an older lawyer with failing health who goes to practice in the countryside. His series of odd court cases reveals more about the human condition than about law. In one of these litigations a wayward nephew has cheated his elderly aunt out of her savings. In court, the nephew insists the money was a gift, but his aunt explains she only gave him the money as a loan. Although the lawyer technically wins the case, everything of value seems lost in the meantime. His services are paid for in rabbits because the aunt has no currency, and in the end, the nephew cons his aunt into parting with her savings anyway. Other cases expose similar types of petty corruption.

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Returning home to Prague, the magician Pasparte, an owner of a circus caravan, meets his dying colleague who entrusts his beautiful daughter Aloisie to his care. In Prague they all take up their lodgings at the house At Blue Fish in which they intend to arrange the programs. The firm is owned by widow Evzenie with whom Pasparte shares flat and bed. Evzenie is jealous of Aloisie therefore Pasparte sends Aloisie as a housewife to the single man Jakub Kolenatý who earns his living by photographing and wants to record the revived pictures of Prague. Pasparte wants to found in Prague the first permanent Czech movie theatre in which there would be projected also the original Czech films.

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In a mountain village in eastern Moravia, J. D., a well-behaved and hard-working young man, his parents' only hope, mysteriously disappeared from home some time ago. At first it was judged to be a misfortune or a crime; the human imagination was left free. It was not until a few days later that a notebook was found in the chamber, which revealed the secret of the disappeared...

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Karel, a young man with an unknown past, but with a defined set of values and an ideal moral code, arrives in the village in the middle of the harvest. For the ordinary, down-to-earth villagers, Karel's lifestyle is hard to understand and they simply do not accept him into their midst. The summer ends and he leaves with his message again somewhere else. Perhaps he will return here next year to try to repeat his strange mission...

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Jarmila Slezáková, a young woman convalesces badly at home after the results of a heart attack which she suffered some time ago. After the doctors have results of the examinations they consider to hospitalize her again. They would like to settle it with her husband, their colleague. But the attractive doctor Slezák made up a story about his participation in a scientific seminar and he left with his lover, a nurse Petra to a summer house.

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The Lavicka's, a Czech family from the city, rents a house in the country with the option to buy. However, old Mr Komarek seems reluctant to sell the house as they agreed.

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Two hilarious short stories set in the milieu of apprentice youth, depicting the amorous travails of teenage boys. In the first story, "The Sorrows of the Devil's Apprentice", we see a talkative storekeeper who is constantly advising his charges on how they should behave, unaware that one of the young men has fallen in love with his daughter. Overcoming shyness is also depicted in the second of the stories, entitled "May I Beg, Helen?"

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The teenage hero tries his best to meet the nomination limit for important races, but his coach's insensitive approach causes him to temporarily lose motivation and even give up on sports...

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When he returns to Prague from a stint in the Army, Lada does not seem to fit in anywhere, and he cannot get the hang of the system of deliberately underperforming on the job. His girlfriend tries to keep him in the city with a variety of stratagems, but he eventually takes a job as a truck driver on a dam-building project. He uses the truck to visit his girl on weekends. Ingenuous, he is unaware that the truck is being used for black-market smuggling, and that his girlfriend two-times on him when he cannot arrange to leave on time for his weekend.

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This feature film based on the events of 1938 is a chronicle of the futile efforts of the Czechoslovak president Edvard Benes (Jirí Pleskot), politicians and ordinary citizens, to save the independence and the territorial integrity of the state from the advance of Hitler's Germany. On the 29th of March 1938 the leader of the Sudeten Germans Henlein (Werner Ehrlicher) has a meeting with Hitler (Gunnar Möller). Hitler orders him to intensify pressure on the Czechoslovak government. On the 24th of April in Carlsbad, the Sudetendeutsche Partei (Sudeten German Party) decides upon eight demands that are unacceptable to the Czechoslovak President, since they would ultimately lead to the break-up of the Republic. Benes still shows a certain willingness to negotiate, and Henlein resents this. The Germans are determined to make further negotiations impossible through incidents and violence.

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Two historical stories about love. In the story "The Arabian Horse", the scheming townsman Messer Francesco Vergellesi is so firmly convinced of his wife's virtue that he does not hesitate to bet her against a rare stallion he has a crush on... The story "The Earrings" shows how a poor girl can help herself to a rare jewel and what intrigues are needed for an elderly noble couple to finally have an heir...

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Kinoautomat was the world's first interactive movie, conceived by Radúz Činčera for the Czechoslovak Pavilion at Expo '67 in Montreal. At nine points during the film the action stops, and a moderator appears on stage to ask the audience to choose between two scenes; following an audience vote, the chosen scene is played.

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