Criticism of the system tended to be oblique prior to 1968, when the reform Communism of the Prague Spring effectively abolished censorship but continued to fund its filmmakers. Nonetheless, there were some powerful works even before this. A director of the older generation, Ladislav Helge (b. 1927), made some strong internal criticisms with his film Skola otcu (School for Fath...
This apocalyptic parable carries within it a clear echo of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. This unforgiving exploration of the Czech mentality tells the tale of a troupe of wandering actors who perform a passion play in some unnamed village. Fear of some unknown danger breaks out in the village, which is cut off from the surrounding world. Stupidity, selfishness and aggres...
In small czech town named Jilemnice live unfortunate, but brave and jovial woman těpa Kiliánová, whose only desire was to fill the void in her virgin life. In despair and excessive trust, she married a sardonic, reclusive man, former lieutenant and gambler Pavel Malina, whose only wish was finally found peace and forgetting the past. They lived through unrequited love, dislike...