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"F. L. Vek" is legendary TV serial based on the extensive novel by Alois Jirásek, famous Czech author of historical novels. Its central character is Frantisek Ladislav Vek, literary projection of interesting historical person living in years 1769 and 1847. The serial catches his childhood in the village, teenage in one Prague cloister, where he was educated, young years in Prague where he was studying philosophy and adult age after his comeback to village. He was big lover of art and music. His life was an encounter between longing and need, art and conventional life of village merchant, obligation and love, Catholicism and protestant faith. He was big patriot and he consorts with many Czech artists of its time (so the serial is full of historical men and women). He also met W. A. Mozart and sang in the premiere of his opera Don Giovanni. The important theme of the time was Czech language (in relationship with German language) which was viewed as one main element of nationality. And fight for it was the leitmotiv of all Vek's (Hek's) life.

This serial which reflects the epoch of the birth of independent Czech nation was pictured in the similar time. 1971 was time when the idea of so called Prague Spring (1968) was suppressed by starting Normalization. Serial represents national trusts in social and political changes on the picture of Czech National Revival. There were many analogies between those and these days (e.g. censorship, religion submission, totalitarianism, domiciliary search and - - revolt against it, braveness of revivalists...). The performances are great. Radoslav Brzobohatý is excellent in his role of young and adult F. L. Vek, Antonie Hegerlíková as his mother is moving and convincing (as well Jan Pivec in role of his severe and unwavering father), Jan Triska as poet Sebestian Hnevkovský is cheerful, Radovan Lukavský as poet, translator and dramatist Václav Thám is splendid in his rise and fall. I must recommend this work (which had been forbidden for a long decades of communist totality in Bohemia) - it's an example of "ancient" art of Czech TV serial. The best actors, perfect screenplay and fascinating atmosphere.

"Golden Fish" is one of average crime stories from the seventies. This time (first of all the decade after occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968) was called the Normalization. And this weak movie is a good illustration of it. Although the story is interesting (the investigation of murder of drug-sub-dealer with a few suspicious), the realization is ineffectual, schematic and untrustworthy. There are many goofs, stereotype dialogs and banal acting of some persons. The investigators (one elderly, experienced detective and a few young criminologists) are played by noble actors, their behavior seems to be resolute and clear. The black and white look on the problematics continues with the picture of drug addicts, who are represented by long-haired boys with emblems of hippies (it's a reductive expression of Czech underground). It's a element of propaganda known from other syn-chronic literary or film works (e.g. Thirty Cases of Major Zeman) but there's no wit or charm, only sterile seriousness. I like this movie only for the memories on my first meeting with it in my teenage.

"Film in Which There Appear Edge Lettering, Sprocket Holes, Dirt Particles, Etc." is a short experimental movie created by George Landow. It's an original abstract film made of one catch on a part of fragmented reel with a woman face. There is only one dramatic (but minimalistic) element: returning letters on one half of screen. The impressive woman face is dynamized by the shading of its colors and forms and all the movie is accompanied by the specific sound of projector which has hypnotizing charm. Thus the visual content is limited, but the significant plane is rich. Abstract art is prolific in interpretations and this movie may refer to numerous meanings, e.g. analysis of artwork to its parts facilitates location of new senses and beauties. You can vote your own interpretation.

"The Halftime of Happiness" is a self-conscious attempt to catch both the thoughts of an elderly man and the atmosphere of changing town. It's continuous mosaic of short chapters in one stage in the life of one ordinary family. The main character is a collier played by Josef Vinklář. He balances his life and the life of his town - Prague (first of all the district of Zizkov). In his cogitation he awakes past times of his childhood, he remembers missing places and people. His best friend (former scientist who had got the push from the political reason in seventies, present driver of their lorry) - played by Jirí Adamíra - calibrates his simple and impulsive interpretation of the world with intellectual look of mathematician - in his dialogs. There are a few dramatic moments (e.g. the daughter is pregnant, the friend is returning to scientific institute) which amplifies collier's emotions and comebacks.

The weak spot of the movie is the choice of actors. Josef Vinklář and Jiří Adamíra play perfectly, but e.g. Zora Jandová and Slavek Janousek are unconvincing.

"The Death of Black King" (the title devises both to chess play and to murder of Mr Král (in English King)) is the last of four movie-continuators of TV series Sinful People of Prague, the famous cycle of mysteries from the first decades of Czechoslovakia. In this full-length movie criminologists investigate strange murder of "debt-collector" Král. The crime is complicated - there are many suspicious and many other lesser serious misdoings (e.g. defalcation in factory where Mr Král works). The story takes place in Prague periphery and it is a place of anomalous and curious people with dark and painful fates. This demimonde has great charm which is accented by the perfectly voted locations (this old Prague have not existed yet). The performances are great again and the music by Zdenek Liska is wonderful.

"Eva runs wild" is successful Czech comedy from the end of thirties based on a novel by Fan Vavrincova. It's one of the best movies by Martin Fric (like Kristián or Tri vejce do skla). It is a nice story about one young lady Eva who wants to steal the instructions for planting the strange roses (invented by her neighbor). Eva means to give it to the aunt as a present to her coming anniversary. She pretends she is an excellent secretary and enters in the family house of neighbors... There is also another plot: Eve's brother is bound to play a role of English aristocrat in this house. There are many comic situations rising from this plots. The movie is witty, the humor of it is loose and crazy and atmosphere of it is appealing. This mood associated late summer with its warm nights and jaunty plays. The performances are great. Natasa Gollová is both beautiful and wildly crazy. Her joyride contrasts with lightly ironic behavior and mature quiet of Oldrich Novy (in a role of her brother). The music by Kamil Behounek and Jiri Traxler is also perfect.

"The Matches of a Beautiful Dragoon" is full-length picture consequent on a successful TV series The Sinful People of Prague. It is a serial of criminal cases investigated by a group of detectives from the time of the First Republic. In this movie investigators looks for the murderer of one old lonely lady from peripheral Prague quarter. The suspicious is young and beautiful dragoon Rudi, coming son-in-law of the local commissar (perfectly played by Vladimír Mensík). But he is entangled to another crime! This movie is both perfect detective story and comedy, there are many comic moments in plot, in characteristics of personages, in dialogs. Movie has got a wonderful atmosphere of old Prague periphery. The performances are splendid. Young Josef Abrhám in a role of dragoon is convincing and the group of criminal investigators are great as ever. The music by Zdenek Liska is superb, there are frequent allusions on brass band songs and also one his author song sang by perfect Josef Bek.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a animated adaptation of the famous novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, elaborate in many film versions. This one is dedicated to children or teenage audience. It has an interesting framework: the scary story about Dr. Jekyll is narrated by a nanny to two young boys - before sleeping. The retro stylization is nice and thrilling plot is interpreted in an expressive way (probably this movie is not suitable for the youngest ones). The humor is attendant only in conception of Mr. Hyde who act more as malicious heavy than a impersonate evil. The voices are becomingly picked (especially Max Meldrum and David Nettheim). It is not the best alteration of Stevenson's work but it is nice and teenagers should like it.

This movie (A murder in Hotel Excelsior) is one of successful quaternary of films which comes out of famous TV series Sinful People of the city of Prague (Hrisní lidé mesta prazského), a collection of stories about the crimes and criminologists (with the legendary chief of the investigators Vacátko (Jaroslav Marvan performs him in this full-length pictures too.). Vacátko and his investigators solve a complicated clew of crimes in the world-known Prague hotel (the most serious one is a murder of a faithless wife). It is shaped as the world of high society which is full of degeneracy (alcoholism, promiscuity, gambling). A group of the investigators contrasts with this milieu and this is the font of many comical situations. The performance are excellent. Marvan and the other criminologists (Bláha, Vinklár, Filipovský) are perfect as well as in the other movies from these series, but the most interesting role was given to Milos Kopecký (director of the hotel). Music by Zdenek Liska is also beautiful and its nobleness corresponds with the cheer of the venue.

This short animated film is the student final movie made in Film School Zlín in the beginning of new millennium (2002). Its young authoress Jana Kalousová used as material for animation - a sand (in tinctures of brown color) so the simple, but tragical story has got a fabulous fragility, which has been accented by silent music (composed by Miroslav Cerný).

The story-line has its center in the moment of farewell of two young lovers at the shore of sea. Boy sails away and later he drowns and girls sadly waits for him until the bird - in symbolic way - tells her about his death.

The movie is eminently sensitive and impressive and I must recommend it to everybody who loves fairy-tales and new ways of animation.

This short experimental movie is excellent audiovisual dialog of two individual musicians - John Cage, composer and writer, and Roland Kirk, original post-bop jazz-man. It's a montage of shots on the town and zoo, Kirk's jazz improvisation in Ronnie Scott's Club and Cage's composing in Saville Theatre. Cage reads from his notes about sound, music and their relations with people and all the movie Kirk's beautiful music sounds (the most wonderful part is collective playing of Kirk and a group of children who play the flutes). The phenomenon of sound inspired both of them and their successful musical attempts reflect the richness of their knowledge.

This movie is the seventh episode of the legendary Czech propagandistic serial that contains "thirty cases" of Czech successful criminologist. Most of these cases has some ideological content. "The Copper-plate" is the first Zeman's case which takes place in Prague. It's the year of 1950 and Zeman quests after group of counterfeiters of food-cards. This movie has impressive atmosphere of the beginning of fifties (but in fact it distinguishes from reality). There is attractive world of night wine-room Panonia with the songstress (played by Hana Hegerová) and profiteering personnel and contrasting (but in grain neighboring) milieu of emporium (there is the most expressive person - old herb-woman played by Vlasta Amortova, famous actress of communistic movies since the end of forties). This part is not important only for it is the first Zeman's case in Prague, but also because he meets his first wife - Lída. The feel of story is upheld by perfect film music by Zdenek Liska, his express in this movie is very rich: it is both melodic (canorous) and lyrical and there's also one song (chanson) sang by Hegerova.

"At this Moment" is a played, color document from the middle of fifties which is meant as the panegyric portrait of American Railroads. It is a montage of real shots of the trains, railroads, interiors of wagons, landscapes, fields, industrial areas, workers and passengers and long interview of workers and railway servants in small canteen - this situation is played by a few actors. The most outstanding one is a waitress, a beautiful young lady Kelly (played by Pat Englund, ephemeral TV series actress). There is also one stranger in the buffet who is vainly waiting for somebody and who is listening both informed and witty dialog. This man is a TV reporter who prepares a program about the railways. The movie presents American Railroads as the integral part of life of all Americans and accents both loading and passenger traffic. It has great charm: the atmosphere in canteen seems to be conventionalized but the nostalgia asserts. The footage from the real life are splendid. I must recommend this short to all fans of trains and railway!

"Hrdina jedné noci" (The Hero of the One Night) is lesser-known comedy by Martin Fric, famous Czech director of many comedies and film dramas, with the king of Czech humorists - Vlasta Burian. It's a nice movie, but not the best of these men's films. Theme of movie was by Jaroslav Kvapil, Czech poet and dramatist, and the atmosphere of theater enfeebles the film incidence. Vlasta Burian plays perfectly, but the others rather second to his concert.

The story is quite complicated. It's a belt of comical situations which make the story of Florian, adorer of the Middle-Ages and local tailor. He embroils with the town-council and has to leave the town. He settles down on the near-by ruins where he meets the group of film-makers who shot historical movie there. He is great dreamer and he considers them to be the real historical beings and tries to serve a princess. Every moment brings new gags and turns in the story, but many of them are expectable. It's a nice movie for favorers of the inter-war cinematography but there are many better films.

"The Early Worm Gets the Bird " is short animated movie from the "Merry Melodies" series. It is a story about one small blackbird inspired by the proverb in the title. One morning he wakes up early and he starts the "worm-chase". But there's another early creature - a weasel who wants to eat the blackbird. This classic is full of funny raids and scrambles where the worm appears more clever than little bird. Blackbirds are stylized as colored men, their faces have Negroid features and their cloth is similar to the mode of blacks in the South. There are many witty moments in this film like in the others from this famous series. But it lacks playful atmosphere which is characteristic for them.

This television series by Jaroslav Dietl is a quite legendary chronicle of the large family of Jakub Cirkl, the title (The Sons and Daughters of Jakub the Glassmaker) adverts to it. The story starts in the end of the 19th century when young and handsome Jakub comes to Albrechtice and within next parts we can see him and his growing family in the course of historical events (World Wars, German occupation, collectivization). Ordinary people and the rolling power of history, everyday troubles and national tragedies... People and their times. This idea is good, but the realization is strongly tendentious. The series was indeed shot at the second half of eighties, so there is a portion of self-criticism (Communist Party wasn't unmistakable etc.), but the reality was different. Except for it the series has a strong atmosphere and great human proportion. The performances are good: Ludek Munzar as the title character, Jiri Krampol, Petr Kostka, Jaromir Hanzlik, Svatopluk Skopal as his sons, and Daniela Kolarova, Jana Preissova, Marta Vancurova as his daughters.

Zlatá reneta (Golden Rennet) is one of the best Czech psychological movies about the male aging. It is a movie adaptation of autobiographic prose by Frantisek Hrubin, excellent Bohemian poet. It catches elderly man (Karel Höger plays him perfectly.) who is coming to the village of his youth. He is looking for his old love in the near town. He must spend one night in the village house of his relatives so his idealist world-view is confronted with their everyday concerns. He is returning and the RETURN is a key world of this story. His present is pervaded with memories on all his life, so beholders find progress of his opinions and discern his temper. Some parts of a movie have an impression of bad dream (shots on his alcoholism) and the whole film regards as a movie-poem. The storyline is mostly narrated than acted and the inner language of the main character has a hypnotic charm of bitter remembering.

Czech movies from the years 1968 and 1969 have a special flavor. In the August 1968 the armies of Warsaw Pact occupied Czechoslovakia and many of art works (included the area of film) from this time were endowed with the strength of national consciousness. This movie is a good example. It's a cheerful narration about the young years of Charles IV, future Roman emperor. It's full of funny stories and burlesque portraits of European historical persons. But there are also many references to great era of Bohemian Independence and Glory because young master wants to elevate Bohemia, its law and morality. The performances are very good and the movie has mighty atmosphere augmented by perfect music and convincing stylization.

"The Rubious Crosses" is the fourth episode of famous propagandistic TV series "Thirty Cases of Major Zeman". Young Zeman, just only a rural policeman, is asked to pretend that he was Richard Lipinsky, one caught and killed terrorist. The sign of these men is a cross with rubies. They plan to break a safe and prepare the way for emigrants and other wreckers. There is also an anticlerical overtone in the history is distorted. But this case is good for its strong atmosphere of postwar Czechoslovakia. There is disquiet and uncertainty, reverberation of war events and expectation of changes. The October locations are hypnotic, e.g. cemetery in Brno, church etc. The music is wonderful again: Zdenek Liska works with the light melodious motives here which answer with the sunny, but autumnal scenes.

"I don't mind" is a leitmotiv of Czech vintage movie The Life is Dog. It's a classical comedy by Mac Fric, based on screenplay by him and Hugo Haas who plays the double-character in this movie. It's a story of unsuccessful musical composer who falls in love with beautiful daughter of musical publisher. It's beginning of thirties, the time of crisis and large unemployment so he starts to pretend that he is his own uncle and got a good job in this company. This is a source of many comical situations which are often presented in a short anecdotal episodes. The performances are great. Hugo Haas is funny, Adina Mandlová is attractive and winsome (and quite naive), Theodor Pistek is both rigorous and kind... The music is wonderful too, the composer of it was Pavel Haas, brother of Hugo, interesting composer whose the best known works were written in the detention camp Theresienstadt.

"Who is the most powerful?" is Czech short cartoon from the beginning of fifties. It was a time of intensive propaganda after criminal communistic putsch in 1948. The art was meant as particular instrument of the diffusion of socialist ideology. Even the fairy-tales for children! It this one the elements of workers fight against the ruling power and solidarity between proletarians are emphasized. These constituents which devise to dialectical Marxist philosophy were commonplace in this time. The story based on an oriental fairy-tale is simple. A kind servant helped an old man and got a magical gem. This thing enables him to metamorphose to everything. He starts to be gluttonous of power and he changes himself to more powerful persons and parts of nature (sun, tempest cloud). Finally he petrifies and this rock is broken by an another worker. This man and his friends throw down his masters and start a new world.

This ideological potential is tiresome (because the situation of this time), but the aesthetics of the film is nice. Animation is perfect (director and author of the screenplay was Zdenek Miller, designer was Antonín Strnadel). Music by E. F. Burian is also fine. The characters don't speak, but there is narrator (Karel Höger) who comments the process with the words in verses.

This movie is an attempt at ethical comedy. Iť's a modern variation of Arabic tale about the genie from the bottle (of gin) which takes place in the small Czech town in the seventies. This wonderful bottle with this magical man appears among common people of the 20th century. Dishonest citizens (e. g. butcher and inn-holder who swindle) force the genie to make unfair things, but there are also pure men who act correctly (e. g. student Petr). The film is very schematic and the final impression is negative (akwardness typical for the movies by Milan Muchna), but there are a line of funny moments and good performances: e. g. excellent Josef Kemr as the genie.

"Patriotic Poepye" is a short cartoon from the late fifties in which legendary sailor Popeye tries to care about his small nephews. These boys are fretful and unbreakable. It's the Fourth of July and all people want to celebrate the anniversary. Popeye cultivates his flower-writing but the boys prepare great fire-works. Popeye doesn't agree and tries to get them of the dangerous games in a variety of ways. The small rascals had won and started to play with petards. In one moment the game overgrows and Popeye (with the help of spinach) must help him. The point is a wonderful compromise! The animation, music and the plot-stylization is perfect again. It's another catchy funny short movie which can't be a failure.

"Going Steady?", a short movie by Ted Peshak (in production of Coronet Instructional Films), is an example of classic post-war instructional movie devoted the questions of relationships between young people. It's made up by a few dialogs between teenagers and their parents and monologues reflecting their questioning. A young couple solves individually their own problem: they are asking for the size of seriousness of their affinity and their kind parents give them the advices. The movie is quite boring. It has neither charm nor magic of nostalgia except number of nice shots on familiar atmosphere etc. The movie has a surprising pathos and urgency. It makes an impression that the young beholders have their lives in their hands. The movie concludes with these words: "This story hasn't answered all your questions, has it? Of course, each boy and girl faces a different problem. When you are faced with this problem, what will your answer be?"

"The Treasure of Byzantine Merchant" is one the Czech detective classics from the sixties. This movie is based on the novel of Václav Erben, successful writer of mysteries, whose famous criminologist was captain Exner. Exner is a clever investigator, but also an elegant playboy with great charm and sense of humor. In this film Jirí Vala perform him perfectly. The theme of this movie is an inquiry of the theft of the treasure which is connected with murder. Ivo Novák, director of this movie, has a gift of combination of thrill and comedy, so there are many funny moments in this film which nicely gradate the serious plot. The performances are great (e. g. Jirí Sovák as Dr. Soudek or Jan Libícek as an investigator Vlcek). There is wonderful music in this movie: Zdenek Liska, the great Czech composer, works in these pieces with the jazz-influenced melodies and the final effect of it is catchy.