settima

Czechoslovakia

Touha zvaná Anada [Desire Called Anad / Adrift] (Elmar Klos + Ján Kadár, 1968/1971)

May

20

Touha zvaná Anada (1968/1971)

Zuzka (Milena Dravić) holds a mirror to Anada's (Paula Pritchett) face. Zuzka's husband Jánoš (Rade Marković) looks on. DP: Vladimír Novotný.

Maratón [The Marathon] (Ivo Novák, 1968)

May

5

1945

Maratón (1968)

Karla (Jana Brejchová) and Ruda (Jaromír Hanzlík). DP: Václav Hanuš.

Krakatit (Otakar Vávra, 1948)

Apr

26

International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day

Krakatit (1948)

A man on a darkened, concrete runway, running towards a man-made structure, a mirage. DP: Václav Hanuš.

Something nuclear on International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day

 

In a state of delirium, engineer Prokop chases his stolen chemical formula, worried it may be used for mass destruction

 

With the experience of yet another world war, and two devastating applications of science biggest terror, Karel Čapek's 1922 novel Krakatit [“Krakatoa”] anticipated and moulded the decades to come.

 

And R.U.R. is now, just around the corner.

Baron Prášil [The Fabulous Baron Munchausen] (Karel Zeman, 1962)

Mar

14

Under the Skin – 2013

Baron Prášil (1962)

A weird of quirky sci-fi film on the date Under the Skin (2013) was released in the UK.

“I cast my hat out into the universe, let it greet those who are on their way from Earth. From this day forward, the Moon is no longer a dream.”

– Cyrano de Bergerac

Případ pro začínajícího kata [Case for a Rookie Hangman] (Pavel Juráček, 1970)

Jan

30

doors

Případ pro začínajícího kata (1970)

In a completely dark room, a large silhouette of a man can be seen rushing through a brightly lit doorway. Other, impossible doors at odd heights show several people observing the man. Still via DVDBeaver. DP: Jan Kališ.

A gateway or door for Janus, god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and ending

 

A man named Gulliver (Lubomír Kostelka) accidentally runs over a rabbit, who is dressed to the nines and carries a pocket watch. Slowly, the man finds himself in a sort of Wonderland.

Kinoautomat: Člověk a jeho dům [Kinoautomat / One Man and His House] (Ján Roháč, Radúz Činčera + Vladimír Svitáček, 1967)

Jan

10

Representation of the People Act 1918

Kinoautomat: Člověk a jeho dům (1967)

The audience about to vote for one of two scenes, with two presenters on stage.. DP: Jaromír Šofr.

Voting, for the Representation of the People Act 1918, UK.

 

Made for the Czechoslovak Pavilion at #Expo67 in #Montréal, Kinoautomat was the world's first interactive film. During nine moments in the story, a moderator would appear on the stage, and ask the audience where the story should go now. Depending on the votes, one of two reels would play.

“The Kinoautomat in the Czechoslovak Pavilion is a guaranteed hit of the World Exposition, and the Czechs should build a monument to the man who conceived the idea, Radúz Činčera.”

– The New Yorker

After its very successful performance at Expo 67, and a one year run in Prague, Kinoautomat was banned by the Czechoslovakian government.

Sedmi kontinent [Sedmý kontinent / The Seventh Continent] (Dušan Vukotić, 1966)

Dec

13

Francis Drake's circumnavigation

Sedmi kontinent (1966)

The first two children to set sail, with Iris Vrus on the right, and possibly Tomislav Pasarić on the left. DP: Karol Krška.

A voyage of discovery on the start of Francis Drake's circumnavigation. Children, ignored by their ever-busy parents, set sail to the Seventh Continent.

Slnko v sieti [The Sun in a Net] (Štefan Uher, 1963)

May

9

lunch

Slnko v sieti (1963)

An old man, enclosed in a simple, wooden window frame, eating his lunch. DP: Stanislav Szomolányi.

Touha zvaná Anada [Desire Called Anad / Adrift] (Elmar Klos + Ján Kadár, 1968/1971)

Jan

21

salt

Touha zvaná Anada (1968/1971)

Semi-off screen, an older man with a moustache at a dinner table – many plates, glasses, and foods – reaches for a bowl of salt. DP: Vladimír Novotný.

Ucho [The Ear] (Karel Kachyňa, 1970)

Jan

8

cake

Ucho (1970)

A gold-rimmed plate with a messy piece of cake on its side. Near it two glasses and a bottle of alcohol. DP: Josef Illík.