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My Sweet Little Village (Czechoslovakia, 1985)
Vesnicko má stredisková
Long-saddled with Otik, the well-meaning “village idiot,” as his partner, Pavek, the city dump truck driver, sees an end to his suffering when their boss in Prague suddenly offers Otik a job in the big city. But when the job turns out to be a scam for the boss to buy Otik’s family home as a summer cottage, the whole town rallies to Otik’s side. For My Sweet Little Village, his second film nominated for a Foreign Language Oscar, Menzel returned to the stories of Bohumil Hrabal for inspiration. Again, the central narrative is the barest pretense for a breezy portrait of small town folks making their way as best they can through gossamer entanglements, mostly of a romantic nature.
35mm, color, in Czech with English subtitles, 98 min. Director: Jiří Menzel. Cast: János Bán, Marián Labuda, Rudolf Hrusínský, Petr Cepek, Libuse Safránková.
New restoration!
Secluded, Near Woods (Czechoslovakia, 1976)
Na samotě u lesa
The city meets the country in this charming satire of Czech-style gentrification. The Lavickas, mother, father and two children, are convinced by an agent to buy a bucolic cottage for their summer getaways on the assurance that its current owner and resident, the elderly Mr. Komárek, will soon be vacating the property to live with his son in Slovakia. When Mr. Komárek recants and decides to stay on, the Lavickas face a choice: force him to move or adopt him. Around this gentle conflict Menzel indulges his affection for local eccentrics while leaving us to wonder just who is transforming whom.
DCP, color, in Czech with English subtitles, 92 min .Director: Jiří Menzel. Screenwriter: Zdenek Sverák, Ladislav Smoljak. Cast: Josef Kemr, Zdenek Sverák, Daniela Kolárová, Marta Hradílková, Martin Hradílek.
