1.
Prague
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Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the 14th largest city in the European Union and it is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters. Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its history and it was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The city has more than ten major museums, along with theatres, galleries, cinemas. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city, also, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an Alpha- global city according to GaWC studies, Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city more than 6.4 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Istanbul, the region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes, around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map of Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the following century, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in Levý Hradec, Butovice and in the Šárka valley. The construction of what came to be known as the Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, the first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied, I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars. She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c.1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia, under Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973
2.
Czechoslovakia
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From 1939 to 1945, following its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, the state did not de facto exist but its government-in-exile continued to operate. From 1948 to 1990, Czechoslovakia was part of the Soviet bloc with a command economy and its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949, and its defense status in the Warsaw Pact of May 1955. A period of liberalization in 1968, known as the Prague Spring, was forcibly ended when the Soviet Union, assisted by several other Warsaw Pact countries. In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the two states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Form of state 1918–1938, A democratic republic, 1938–1939, After annexation of Sudetenland by Nazi Germany in 1938, the region gradually turned into a state with loosened connections among the Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian parts. A large strip of southern Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine was annexed by Hungary, 1939–1945, The region was split into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovak Republic. A government-in-exile continued to exist in London, supported by the United Kingdom, United States and its Allies, after the German invasion of Russia, Czechoslovakia adhered to the Declaration by United Nations and was a founding member of the United Nations. 1946–1948, The country was governed by a government with communist ministers, including the prime minister. Carpathian Ruthenia was ceded to the Soviet Union, 1948–1989, The country became a socialist state under Soviet domination with a centrally planned economy. In 1960, the country became a socialist republic, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It was a state of the Soviet Union. 1989–1990, The federal republic consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic, 1990–1992, Following the Velvet Revolution, the state was renamed the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, consisting of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Neighbours Austria 1918–1938, 1945–1992 Germany Hungary Poland Romania 1918–1938 Soviet Union 1945–1991 Ukraine 1991–1992 Topography The country was of irregular terrain. The western area was part of the north-central European uplands, the eastern region was composed of the northern reaches of the Carpathian Mountains and lands of the Danube River basin. Climate The weather is mild winters and mild summers, influenced by the Atlantic Ocean from the west, Baltic Sea from the north, and Mediterranean Sea from the south. The area was long a part of the Austro Hungarian Empire until the Empire collapsed at the end of World War I, the new state was founded by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who served as its first president from 14 November 1918 to 14 December 1935. He was succeeded by his ally, Edvard Beneš. The roots of Czech nationalism go back to the 19th century, nationalism became a mass movement in the last half of the 19th century
3.
Film director
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A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a films artistic and dramatic aspects, the director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design, and the creative aspects of filmmaking. Under European Union law, the director is viewed as the author of the film, the film director gives direction to the cast and crew and creates an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized, or noticed. Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions, there are many pathways to becoming a film director. Some film directors started as screenwriters, cinematographers, film editors or actors, other film directors have attended a film school. Some outline a general plotline and let the actors dialogue, while others control every aspect. Some directors also write their own screenplays or collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners, some directors edit or appear in their films, or compose the music score for their films. Film directors create a vision through which a film eventually becomes realized/noticed. Realizing this vision includes overseeing the artistic and technical elements of production, as well as directing the shooting timetable. This entails organizing the crew in such a way as to achieve their vision of the film. This requires skills of leadership, as well as the ability to maintain a singular focus even in the stressful. Moreover, it is necessary to have an eye to frame shots and to give precise feedback to cast and crew, thus. Thus the director ensures that all involved in the film production are working towards an identical vision for the completed film. The set of varying challenges he or she has to tackle has been described as a jigsaw puzzle with egos. It adds to the pressure that the success of a film can influence when, omnipresent are the boundaries of the films budget. Additionally, the director may also have to ensure an intended age rating, thus, the position of film director is widely considered to be a highly stressful and demanding one. It has been said that 20-hour days are not unusual, under European Union law, the film director is considered the author or one of the authors of a film, largely as a result of the influence of auteur theory. Auteur theory is a film criticism concept that holds that a directors film reflects the directors personal creative vision
4.
Theatre director
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The directors function is to ensure the quality and completeness of theatre production and to lead the members of the creative team into realizing their artistic vision for it. If the production he or she is mounting is a new piece of writing or a translation of a play, in contemporary theatre, after the playwright, the director is generally the primary visionary, making decisions on the artistic concept and interpretation of the play and its staging. Different directors occupy different places of authority and responsibility, depending on the structure, Directors use a wide variety of techniques, philosophies, and levels of collaboration. In ancient Greece, the birthplace of European drama, the writer bore principal responsibility for the staging of his plays, the author-director would also train the chorus, sometimes compose the music, and supervise every aspect of production. The fact that the director was called didaskalos, the Greek word for teacher, a miniature by Jean Fouquet from 1460 bears one of the earliest depictions of a director at work. Holding a prompt book, the central figure directs, with the aid of a long stick, from Renaissance times up until the 19th century, the role of director was often carried by the actor-manager. This would usually be an actor in a troupe who took the responsibility for choosing the repertoire of work, staging it. This was the case for instance with Commedia dellArte companies and English actor-managers like Colley Cibber, the modern theatre director can be said to have originated in the staging of elaborate spectacles of the Meininger Company under George II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. The management of large numbers of extras and complex stagecraft matters necessitated an individual to take on the role of overall coordinator. This gave rise to the role of the director in modern theatre, simultaneously, Constantin Stanislavski, principally an actor-manager, would set up the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia and similarly emancipate the role of the director as artistic visionary. The French regisseur is also used to mean a stage director. A more common term for theatre director in French is metteur en scène, post World War II, the actor-manager slowly started to disappear, and directing become a fully fledged artistic activity within the theatre profession. The director originating artistic vision and concept, and realizing the staging of a production, a cautionary note was introduced by the famed director Sir Tyrone Guthrie who said the only way to learn how to direct a play, is. To get a group of actors simple enough to allow you to let you direct them, most European countries nowadays know some form of professional directing training, usually at drama schools or conservatoires, or at universities. In the early days such programmes typically led to the staging of one major production in the third year. At the University of California, Irvine, Keith Fowler led for many years a programme based on the premise that directors are autodidacts who need as many opportunities to direct as possible. Under Fowler, graduate student directors would stage between five and ten productions during their residencies, with each production receiving detailed critiques. Directing is an artform that has grown with the development of theatre theory, with the emergence of new trends in theatre, so too have directors adopted new methodologies and engaged in new practices
5.
Screenwriter
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One famous screenwriter is Jack Rosenthal, who has written for various TV shows over the years, including Londons Burning and Coronation Street. No education is required to become a screenwriter, just good storytelling abilities. Screenwriters are not hired employees, they are contracted freelancers, most, if not all, screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation, meaning they write without being hired or paid for it. If such a script is sold, it is called a spec script, what separates a professional screenwriter from an amateur screenwriter is that professional screenwriters are usually represented by a talent agency. Also, professional screenwriters do not often work for free, whereas amateur screenwriters will often work for free and are considered writers in training, spec scripts are usually penned by unknown professional screenwriters and amateur screenwriters. There are a legion of would-be screenwriters who attempt to enter the industry but it often takes years of trial-and-error, failure. In Writing Screenplays that Sell, Michael Hague writes Screenplays have become, for the last half of century, closet writers who used to dream of the glory of getting into print now dream of seeing their story on the big or small screen. Every screenplay and teleplay begins with a thought or idea, and screenwriters use those ideas to write scripts, with the intention of selling them and having them produced. In some cases, the script is based on a property, such as a book or persons life story. The majority of the time, a film project gets initiated by a screenwriter and because they initiated the project and these are referred to as exclusive assignments or pitched assignments. Screenwriters who often pitch new projects, whether original or an adaptation, when word is put out about a project a film studio, production company, or producer wants done, these are referred to as open assignments. In situations where screenwriters are competing for an assignment, more established writers will usually win these assignments. A screenwriter can also be approached and personally offered a writing assignment, many screenwriters also work as full or part-time script doctors, attempting to better a script to suit the desires of a director or studio. For instance, studio management may have a complaint that the motivations of the characters are unclear or that the dialogue is weak, script-doctoring can be quite lucrative, especially for the better known writers. David Mamet and John Sayles, for instance, fund the movies they direct themselves, usually from their own screenplays, by writing and doctoring scripts for others. In fact, some writers make very profitable careers out of being the ninth or tenth writer to work on a piece, in many cases, working on projects that never see exposure to an audience of any size. Many up and coming screenwriters also ghost write projects and allow more established screenwriters to take credit for the project to increase the chances of it getting picked up. After a screenwriter finishes a project, he or she pairs with a representative, such as a producer, director, literary agent, entertainment lawyer
6.
Humanism
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The term was coined in 1808 by the early nineteenth century German educational reformer and theologian Friedrich Niethammer and gradually adopted into English. Niethammer had wished to introduce into German education the humane values of ancient Greece, the word Humanism is ultimately derived from the Latin concept humanitas, and, like most other words ending in -ism, entered English in the nineteenth century. Those who earnestly desire and seek after these are most highly humanized. For the desire to pursue of that kind of knowledge, and the training given by it, has granted to humanity alone of all the animals. Gellius says that in his day humanitas is commonly used as a synonym for philanthropy – or kindness and he himself was involved in public affairs. By assigning pride of place to Paideia in his comment on the etymology of humanitas, gelliuss writings fell into obscurity during the middle ages, but during the Italian Renaissance, Gellius became a favorite author. Teachers and scholars of Greek and Latin grammar, rhetoric, philosophy, during the French Revolution, and soon after, in Germany, humanism began to refer to an ethical philosophy centered on humankind, without attention to the transcendent or supernatural. The designation Religious Humanism refers to organized groups that sprang up during the late-nineteenth and it is similar to Protestantism, although centered on human needs, interests, and abilities rather than the supernatural. The first Humanist Manifesto was issued by a conference held at the University of Chicago in 1933, signatories included the philosopher John Dewey, but the majority were ministers and theologians. But in the century, during the French Enlightenment, a more ideological use of the term had come into use. In 1765, the author of an article in a French Enlightenment periodical spoke of The general love of humanity. A virtue hitherto quite nameless among us, and which we will venture to call humanism, for the time has come to create a word for such a beautiful and necessary thing. The latter part of the 18th and the early 19th centuries saw the creation of numerous philanthropic and benevolent societies dedicated to human betterment. Humanism began to acquire a negative sense, the Oxford English Dictionary records the use of the word humanism by an English clergyman in 1812 to indicate those who believe in the mere humanity of Christ, i. e. Unitarians and Deists. Human-centered philosophy that rejected the supernatural may also be found circa 1500 BCE in the Lokayata system of Indian philosophy, nasadiya Sukta, a passage in the Rig Veda, contains one of the first recorded assertions of agnosticism. Another instance of ancient humanism as a system of thought is found in the Gathas of Zarathustra. Zarathustras philosophy in the Gathas lays out a conception of humankind as thinking beings, dignified with choice, in China, Yellow Emperor is regarded as the humanistic primogenitor. Sage kings such as Yao and Shun are humanistic figures as recorded, king Wu of Zhou has the famous saying, Humanity is the Ling of the world
7.
Cinematography
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Typically, a lens is used to repeatedly focus the light reflected from objects into real images on the light-sensitive surface inside a camera during a questioned exposure, creating multiple images. With an electronic sensor, this produces an electrical charge at each pixel. The result with photographic emulsion is a series of invisible latent images on the film stock, the images on the film stock are played back at a rapid speed and projected onto a screen, creating the illusion of motion. Cinematography finds uses in fields of science and business as well as for entertainment purposes. The word cinematography was created from the Greek words κίνημα, meaning movement, motion and γράφειν meaning to record, the word used to refer to the art, process, or job of filming movies, but later its meaning was restricted to motion picture photography. In the 1830s, moving images were produced on revolving drums and disks, with independent invention by Simon von Stampfer in Austria, Joseph Plateau in Belgium, and William Horner in Britain. In 1845, Francis Ronalds invented the first successful camera able to make recordings of the varying indications of meteorological. The cameras were supplied to numerous observatories around the world and some remained in use well into the 20th century. William Lincoln patented a device, in 1867, that showed animated pictures called the wheel of life or zoopraxiscope, in it, moving drawings or photographs were watched through a slit. On 19 June 1873, Eadweard Muybridge successfully photographed a horse named Sallie Gardner in fast motion using a series of 24 stereoscopic cameras. The cameras were arranged along a parallel to the horses. They were 21 inches apart to cover the 20 feet taken by the horse stride, although it was never played back at speed to create motion, this was the first step towards motion pictures. The late nineteenth to the twentieth century brought rise to the use of film not only for entertainment purposes. The experimental film Roundhay Garden Scene, filmed by Louis Le Prince on 14 October 1888, in Roundhay, Leeds and this movie was shot on paper film. W. K. L. Dickson, working under the direction of Thomas Alva Edison, was the first to design a successful apparatus and this camera took a series of instantaneous photographs on standard Eastman Kodak photographic emulsion coated onto a transparent celluloid strip 35 mm wide. The results of work were first shown in public in 1893, using the viewing apparatus also designed by Dickson. Contained within a box, only one person at a time looking into it through a peephole could view the movie. The Lumière brothers were the first to present projected, moving, photographic, in 1896, movie theaters were open in France, Italy, Brussels, and London
8.
Bohumil Hrabal
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Bohumil Hrabal was a Czech writer, regarded by many Czechs as one of the best writers of the 20th century. Hrabal was born in the city of Brno on 28 March 1914, in what was then the province of Moravia within Austria-Hungary, to an unmarried mother, Marie Božena Kiliánová. According to the organisers of a 2009 Hrabal exhibition in Brno, his father was probably Bohumil Blecha, a teachers son a year older than Marie. Marie’s parents opposed the idea of their daughter marrying Blecha, as he was about to serve in the Austro-Hungarian Army, four months after Hrabals birth World War I started, and Blecha was sent to the Italian front, before being invalided out of service. Blecha’s daughter, Drahomíra Blechová-Kalvodová, says her father told her when she was 18 that Hrabal was her half-brother, Bohumil and his biological father never met formally, according to Blechová-Kalvodová. Hrabal and Blechová-Kalvodová met twice, a dedication in a picture from 1994 says, To sister Drahomíra, Hrabal was baptised Bohumil František Kilián. Until the age of three, he lived mainly with his grandparents, Kateřina Kiliánová and Tomáš Kilián, in Brno while his mother worked in Polná as an assistant book-keeper in the towns brewery. František Hrabal, Hrabal’s stepfather, was a friend of Hrabal’s probable biological father, Marie and František married in February 1917, shortly before Bohumils second birthday. Hrabals half-brother, Břetislav Josef Hrabal, was later that year. The family moved in August 1919 to Nymburk, a town on the banks of the Labe. Both of Hrabals parents were active in amateur dramatics, Hrabal’s uncle was Bohuslav Kilián, a lawyer, journalist and publisher of the cultural magazines Salon and Měsíc. In 1920, Hrabal began at the school in Nymburk. In September 1925, he spent one year at a school in Brno. He failed the first year, he attended a technical secondary school in Nymburk. There too he struggled to concentrate on his studies, despite extra classes given to him by his uncle, in June 1934 Hrabal left school with a certificate that said he could be considered for a place at university on a technical course. Hrabal took private classes in Latin for a year, passing the exam in the town of Český Brod with an adequate grade on 3 October 1935. Four days later, on 7 October 1935, he registered at the Charles University in Prague to study for a law degree and he graduated only in March 1946 as Czech universities had been shut down in November 1939 and remained so until the end of Nazi occupation. During the war, he worked as a labourer and dispatcher in Kostomlaty, near Nymburk
9.
Czechoslovak New Wave
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The quality and openness of the films led the genre to be called the Czechoslovak film miracle. The Czechoslovak New Wave was a movement in cinema which evolved out of the earlier Devětsil movement of the thirties. Their objective in making films was to make the Czech people collectively aware that they were participants in a system of oppression, trademarks of the movement are long unscripted dialogues, dark and absurd humour, and the casting of non-professional actors. They also tended to present films taken from Czech literature, including Jaromil Jireš adaptation of Milan Kunderas anti-Communist novel The Joke. At the Fourth Congress of the Czechoslovak Writers Union in 1967, formans The Firemens Ball, another major film of the era, remains a cult film more than four decades after its release. The movement came to an end and Miloš Forman and Jan Němec fled the country. The majority of films shot during the New Wave were Czech-language as opposed to Slovak, many directors came from the prestigious FAMU, located in Prague, while the state-run Barrandov Studios were located just on the outskirts of Prague. The Shop on Main Street directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1966, devil by Ester Krumbachová Morgiana by Juraj Herz Barrandov Studios Cinema of the Czech Republic List of Czech films Cook, David
10.
Closely Watched Trains
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Closely Watched Trains is a 1966 Czechoslovak film directed by Jiří Menzel, and one of the best-known products of the Czechoslovak New Wave. It was released in the United Kingdom as Closely Observed Trains and it is a coming-of-age story about a young man working at a train station in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II. The film is based on a 1965 novel by Bohumil Hrabal and it was produced by Barrandov Studios and filmed on location in Central Bohemia. Released outside Czechoslovakia during 1967, it won the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 40th Academy Awards in 1968 and he admires himself in his new uniform, and looks forward, like his prematurely-retired railwayman father, to avoiding real work. The sometimes pompous stationmaster is an enthusiastic pigeon-breeder with a kind wife, Miloš holds an as-yet platonic love for the pretty, young conductor Máša. The experienced Hubička presses for details of their relationship and realizes that Miloš is still a virgin, the idyll of the railway station is periodically disturbed by the arrival of the councillor, Zednicek, a Nazi collaborator, who spouts propaganda at the staff without success. He is saved, and a doctor explains to him that ejaculatio praecox is normal at Milošs age. The doctor recommends Miloš to think of something else, and to seek the assistance of an experienced woman, during the nightshift, Hubička flirts with the young telegraphist, Zdenička, and imprints her thighs and buttocks with the offices rubber stamps. Her mother sees the stamps and complains to Hubičkas superiors, the Germans and their collaborators are on edge, since their trains are being attacked by the partisans. A glamorous Resistance agent, code-named Viktoria Freie, delivers a time bomb to Hubička for use in blowing up an ammunition train. At Hubičkas request, the experienced Viktoria also helps Miloš to resolve his sexual problem, a machine-gunner on the train, spotting Miloš, sprays him with bullets, and his body falls onto the train. Balthazar, a segment from the film of Hrabal stories Pearls from the Deep. Menzel and Hrabal worked together closely on the script, making a number of modifications to the novel, menzels first choice for the lead role of Milos was Vladimír Pucholt, who however was occupied filming Jiří Krejčíks Svatba jako řemen. At one point Menzel considered playing the role himself, but concluded that at almost 28 he was too old, fifteen non-professional actors were tested, before the wife of Ladislav Fikar came up with the suggestion of the pop singer Václav Neckář. Menzel has related that he took on the cameo role of the doctor only at the last minute after the actor originally cast failed to show up for shooting. Filming began in late February and lasted until the end of April 1966, locations were used in and around the station building in Loděnice. The association between Menzel and Hrabal was to continue, the film premiered in Czechoslovakia on 18 November 1966. Release outside Czechoslovakia took place in the following year, the charm of his film is in the quietness and slyness of his earthy comedy, the wonderful finesse of understatements, the wise and humorous understanding of primal sex
11.
Communism
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Communism includes a variety of schools of thought, which broadly include Marxism, anarchism, and the political ideologies grouped around both. The primary element which will enable this transformation, according to analysis, is the social ownership of the means of production. Likewise, some communists defend both theory and practice, while others argue that historical practice diverged from communist principles to a greater or lesser degree, according to Richard Pipes, the idea of a classless, egalitarian society first emerged in Ancient Greece. At one time or another, various small communist communities existed, in the medieval Christian church, for example, some monastic communities and religious orders shared their land and their other property. Communist thought has also traced back to the works of the 16th-century English writer Thomas More. In his treatise Utopia, More portrayed a society based on ownership of property. In the 17th century, communist thought surfaced again in England, criticism of the idea of private property continued into the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, through such thinkers as Jean Jacques Rousseau in France. Later, following the upheaval of the French Revolution, communism emerged as a political doctrine, in the early 19th century, Various social reformers founded communities based on common ownership. But unlike many previous communist communities, they replaced the emphasis with a rational. Notable among them were Robert Owen, who founded New Harmony in Indiana, in its modern form, communism grew out of the socialist movement in 19th-century Europe. As the Industrial Revolution advanced, socialist critics blamed capitalism for the misery of the new class of urban factory workers who labored under often-hazardous conditions. Foremost among these critics were Marx and his associate Friedrich Engels, in 1848, Marx and Engels offered a new definition of communism and popularized the term in their famous pamphlet The Communist Manifesto. The 1917 October Revolution in Russia set the conditions for the rise to power of Lenins Bolsheviks. The revolution transferred power to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, in which the Bolsheviks had a majority, the event generated a great deal of practical and theoretical debate within the Marxist movement. Marx predicted that socialism and communism would be built upon foundations laid by the most advanced capitalist development, Russia, however, was one of the poorest countries in Europe with an enormous, largely illiterate peasantry and a minority of industrial workers. Marx had explicitly stated that Russia might be able to skip the stage of bourgeois rule, the moderate Mensheviks opposed Lenins Bolshevik plan for socialist revolution before capitalism was more fully developed. The Great Purge of 1937–1938 was Stalins attempt to destroy any possible opposition within the Communist Party and its leading role in the Second World War saw the emergence of the Soviet Union as a superpower, with strong influence over Eastern Europe and parts of Asia. The European and Japanese empires were shattered and Communist parties played a role in many independence movements
12.
My Sweet Little Village
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My Sweet Little Village is a 1985 Czechoslovak film directed by Jiří Menzel. In 1987 it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, at the 1986 Montreal World Film Festival, it won the Special Jury Award and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. At the Paris Film Festival in 1987 Hungarian actor János Bán received the best actor award, in a public survey conducted in January 2007 by the online news server Novinky. cz this movie was chosen by 22, 4% of voters as the most popular Czech comedy in history. The films main storyline follows the life of Otík, a mentally retarded young man, the sweet-tempered Otík works as an assistant truck driver with Mr. Pávek, his older colleague and practical-minded neighbor. Páveks family takes care of Otík, whose parents are dead, however, the two coworkers become at odds over Otíks inability to perform even the simplest tasks. Pávek demands that Otík be transferred to assist another driver, who happens to be a choleric, rather than work with Turek, Otík decides to accept an offer of employment in Prague, but finds he does not fit into the city life. The movie gained favorable reviews from critics, with Roger Ebert awarding the movie 3. In My Sweet Little Village, discovers some of the same gentle and he uses everyday life as an instrument for a subtle attack on bureaucracy and a cheerful assertion of human nature. This movie is joyful from beginning to end - a small treasure, but a real one. cz Czech New York Times Review
13.
Cutting It Short
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Cutting It Short is a 1980 Czechoslovak comedy film directed by Jiří Menzel. It is based on the novel Postřižiny by Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal, the story is set in a brewery in a Czech small town. The film is an evocation of the memories of Bohumil Hrabal in his provincial town of Nymburk. His spontaneous stories influenced a lot Hrabals literary work, the film was entered into the main competition at the 38th edition of the Venice Film Festival. According to the critic and historian Peter Hames, Cutting It Short. Theodor Pištěk designed the costumes for the film, magda Vášáryová as Maryška Jiří Schmitzer as Francin Jaromír Hanzlík as Pepin Rudolf Hrušínský as Dr
14.
Ten Minutes Older
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Ten Minutes Older is a 2002 film project consisting of two compilation feature films titled The Trumpet and The Cello. The project was conceived by the producer Nicolas McClintock as a reflection on the theme of time at the turn of the Millennium, fifteen celebrated film-makers were invited to create their own vision of what time means in ten minutes of film. The music for the compilations was composed by Paul Englishby, and performed by Hugh Masekela, the Trumpet was first screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. The Cello was premiered in the official Venice Film Festival 2002, both films released internationally The two films are dedicated to Herz Frank and Juris Podnieks who made the 1978 short film, Ten Minutes Older. The original film and the film have been shown together on numerous occasions, including the Yamagata Film Festival in 2004
15.
I Served the King of England (film)
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I Served the King of England is a 2006 Czech comedy film written and directed by Jiří Menzel, based on the novel I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal. It is Menzels sixth adaptation of the works of Hrabal for film, the film was released in the United Kingdom and in the United States in 2008. Jan Dítě has been released from a Czech prison just before the end of his 15-year sentence and is settling in a town near the border between Czechoslovakia and Germany. He occupies his time with rebuilding a house, and begins to recall his past. Jan begins his career as a vendor at a railroad station, and quickly learns the power of money. At one point during his reminiscences, a woman, Marcela, and her older traveling companion. Jan and Marcela develop an attraction, although it remains physically unconsumated. The film continues to alternate between past and present, as the relationship between the older Jan and the new neighbors develops, in the restaurant, the younger Jan has a number of affairs with various women, including an actress and a prostitute at a brothel. He also gradually moves into more socially prestigious work settings, including a stint at a spa, the Hotel Tichota, where he has an affair with a maid there. Jan eventually finds employment in Prague at the Hotel Paříž, where he falls under the tutelage of the Maître d, Skřivánek, eventually, Jan serves the Emperor of Ethiopia at one occasion. The Emperor tries to award a medal to Skřivánek, but because he is short in height, Jan is short enough for the Emperor to reach, and maneuvers into place to receive the medal in place of Skřivánek. With the annexation of Czechoslovakia during the Third Reich, Jan falls in love with Liza and she agrees to marry him only after he proves that he is of pure Aryan descent through medical examination. During the occupation, the waiters and the hotel manager, Brandejs. Jan is the member of the waitstaff not to express symbolic resistance in this manner. Brandejs dismisses Jan for this reason, and says that Jan will be blacklisted from employment in any Prague establishment. When Jan and Liza later appear as patrons, and after Jan mocks Skřivánek that serving the King of England has done him no good in life, eventually, Skřivánek is taken away by the occupying authorities and never seen again. During World War II, Jan works in an institute, formerly the Hotel Tichota, because the owner, Mr Tichota, uses a wheelchair, he has been displaced as its owner and is never seen again. In the meantime, Liza serves as a nurse on the Russian front and she returns with valuable stamps taken from the homes of Polish-Jewish families
16.
Sitcom
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A situation comedy, or sitcom, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new characters in each sketch, and stand-up comedy, Sitcoms originated in radio, but today are found mostly on television as one of its dominant narrative forms. This form can also include mockumentaries, a situation comedy television program may be recorded in front of a studio audience, depending on the programs production format. The effect of a studio audience can be imitated or enhanced by the use of a laugh track. The terms situational comedy or sitcom werent commonly used until the 1950s, there were prior examples on radio, but the first television sitcom is said to be Pinwrights Progress, ten episodes being broadcast on the BBC in the United Kingdom between 1946 and 1947. There have been few long-running Australian-made sitcoms, but many U. S. UK sitcoms are a staple of government broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation, in the 1970s and 1980s many UK sitcoms also screened on the Seven Network. By 1986, UK comedies Bless This House and Are You Being Served, had been repeated by ABC Television several times, and were then acquired and screened by the Seven Network, in prime time. In 1981, Daily at Dawn was the first Australian comedy series to feature a gay character. In 1987, Mother and Son was winner of the Television Drama Award presented by the Australian Human Rights Commission, in 2013, Please Like Me was praised by the critics, receiving an invitation to screen at the Series Mania Television Festival in Paris. And has garnered three awards and numerous nominations, nominated to the 2012 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards for Best Television Comedy Series. Conversely, however, Canadian television has had greater success with sketch comedy and dramedy series. The popular show King of Kensington, aired from 1975 to 1980, corner Gas, which ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009, became an instant hit, averaging a million viewers per episode. It has been the recipient of six Gemini Awards, and has been nominated almost 70 times for various awards, other noteworthy recent sitcoms have included Call Me Fitz and Schitts Creek, Letterkenny and Kims Convenience. Sitcoms started appearing on Indian television in the 1980s, with serials like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, since it ceased production in 1992, the show has earned an estimated billion in syndication fees alone for Televisa. Gliding On, a popular sit-com in New Zealand in the early 1980s, won awards over the course of its run, including Best Comedy, Best Drama. The first Russian sitcom series was Strawberry, which was aired in 1996-1997 on the RTR channel, however, the boom of Russian sitcoms began only in the 2000s - when in 2004 the STS started very successful sitcom My Fair Nanny. Since that time sitcoms in Russia were produced by the two largest entertainment channels of the country - STS and TNT, in 2007 the STS released the first original domestic sitcom - Daddys Daughters, and in 2010 TNT released Interns - the first sitcom, filmed as a comedy. Most American sitcoms generally include episodes of 20 to 30 minutes in length, some popular British shows have been successfully adapted for the U. S
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IMDb
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In 1998 it became a subsidiary of Amazon Inc, who were then able to use it as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes. As of January 2017, IMDb has approximately 4.1 million titles and 7.7 million personalities in its database, the site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Although all data is checked before going live, the system has open to abuse. The site also featured message boards which stimulate regular debates and dialogue among authenticated users, IMDb shutdown the message boards permanently on February 20,2017. Anyone with a connection can read the movie and talent pages of IMDb. A registration process is however, to contribute info to the site. A registered user chooses a name for themselves, and is given a profile page. These badges range from total contributions made, to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, if a registered user or visitor happens to be in the entertainment industry, and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO. Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and this fee enrolls them in a membership called IMDbPro. PRO can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is $19.99 USD per month, or if paid annually, $149.99, which comes to approximately $12.50 per month USD. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in PRO for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as a user, and contribute to the site as well as enjoy its content, however those users enrolled in PRO have greater access and privileges. IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled Those Eyes, others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an Actors List, while Dave Knight began a Directors List, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the Actress List. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, the goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible. By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17,1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, at the time, it was known as the rec. arts. movies movie database
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Shoeshine (film)
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Shoeshine is a 1946 Italian film directed by Vittorio De Sica. Sometimes regarded as his first major work, the film follows two boys who get into trouble with the police after trying to find the money to buy a horse. Two friends, Giuseppe Filippucci and Pasquale Maggi, test-ride horses and it is their dream to own one for themselves. Though they are saving to purchase a horse, it is difficult for them to afford one, one day Giuseppes older brother, Attilio, visits the two boys while they are shining shoes. Attilio tells Pasquale that Panza has some work for them, Pasquale brings Giuseppe along to meet Panza, who gives them two fine American blankets to sell. Giuseppe and Pasquale bring the blankets to a teller, who buys them from the boys after some negotiation. After the sale, Panza, Attilio, and another man bust into the fortune tellers house and they accuse the fortune teller of handling stolen goods, and finding Giuseppe and Pasquale, force them out and pretend to take them into custody. Attilio tells the boys to go away and keep quiet, letting them keep the money as well as 3,000 additional lira. With this money, the boys realize they have enough to buy a horse. After purchasing their horse and spending a great deal of time riding it, there the real police, accompanied by the fortune teller, bring them into the precinct for questioning. The police accuse the boys of stealing over 700,000 lira from the fortune tellers home, the boys deny all charges and do not mention their knowledge of the three true con men. Giuseppe and Pasquale are sent to a detention center. On arrival, Giuseppe and Pasquale are separated, the detention center is divided into three levels/rows of cells with 5 boys in each. Giuseppe is placed in a cell on the floor. The two boys try to remain in contact, but are frequently stifled by the prison guards and they each make new acquaintances in their respective cells. Giuseppe receives a package from his mother filled with food and he tries to share it with Pasquale, still in his cell on the first floor, but he is stopped. Giuseppe instead shares it with his inmates in his own cell. As the meal begins, Arcangeli, one of Giuseppes fellow inmates returning from solitary confinement and it is from Attilios boss, and it instructs him not to expose his brother and comrades regarding the con
19.
Vittorio De Sica
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Vittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Indeed, the critical success of Sciuscià and Bicycle Thieves helped establish the permanent Best Foreign Film Oscar. These two films generally are considered part of the canon of classic cinema, Bicycle Thieves was cited by Turner Classic Movies as one of the 15 most influential films in cinema history. De Sicas acting was considered the highlight of the film, born into poverty in Sora, Lazio, he began his career as a theatre actor in the early 1920s and joined Tatiana Pavlovas theatre company in 1923. In 1933 he founded his own company with his wife Giuditta Rissone, the company performed mostly light comedies, but they also staged plays by Beaumarchais and worked with famous directors like Luchino Visconti. De Sica appeared in the British television series The Four Just Men and his passion for gambling was well known. Because of it, he often lost large sums of money, in 1937 Vittorio De Sica married the actress Giuditta Rissone, who gave birth to their daughter, Emi. In 1942, on the set of Un garibaldino al convento, he met Spanish actress Maria Mercader, after divorcing Rissone in France in 1954, he married Mercader in 1959 in Mexico, but this union was not considered valid under Italian law. In 1968 he obtained French citizenship and married Mercader in Paris, meanwhile, he had already had two sons with her, Manuel, in 1949, a musician, and Christian, in 1951, who would follow his fathers path as an actor and director. Although divorced, De Sica never parted from his first family and he led a double family life, with double celebrations on holidays. It is said that, at Christmas and on New Years Eve and his first wife agreed to keep up the facade of a marriage so as not to leave her daughter without a father. Vittorio De Sica died at 73 after a surgery at the Neuilly-sur-Seine hospital in Paris, Vittorio De Sica was given the Interfilm Grand Prix in 1971 by the Berlin International Film Festival. Miracolo a Milano Cannes Film Festival Palme DOr Winner Umberto D
20.
Monsieur Vincent
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Monsieur Vincent is a 1947 French film about Vincent de Paul, the seventeenth century priest and charity worker. It depicts his struggle to help the poor in the face of such as the Black Death. In 1949 it won an honorary Academy Award as the best foreign language film released in the United States in 1948, the Vatican placed it amongst their list of approved films under the category of Religion due to its thematic nature in 1995. Guy Lefranc was assistant director on the movie, monsieur Vincent at the Internet Movie Database
21.
Bicycle Thieves
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Bicycle Thieves is a 1948 Italian film directed by Vittorio De Sica. The film follows the story of a father searching post-World War II Rome for his stolen bicycle. It is also one of the top ten among the British Film Institutes list of films you should see by the age of 14. In the post-World War II Val Melaina neighbourhood of Rome, Antonio Ricci is desperate for work to support his wife Maria, his son Bruno and he is offered a position posting advertising bills, but tells Maria that he cannot accept because the job requires a bicycle. Maria resolutely strips the bed of her dowry bedsheets—prized possessions for a poor family—and takes them to the pawn shop and they cycle home—Maria on the crossbar—rejoicing in their good fortune. Along the way, Maria insists that she has to visit someone, Antonio discovers that it is a seer who had prophesied that Antonio would find work, Maria gives the seer money in appreciation of her prophecy. Antonio teases her for such foolishness, on his first day of work Antonio is atop a ladder when a young man snatches the bicycle. Antonio gives chase but is thrown off the trail by the thiefs confederates, the police warn that there is little they can do. Advised that stolen goods often surface at the Piazza Vittorio market, Antonio goes there with several friends, finding a bike that might be Antonios they summon an officer, but the serial numbers do not match. At the Porta Portese market Antonio and Bruno spot the thief with an old man, the thief eludes them, and the old man feigns ignorance. They follow him into a church where but he too slips away from them, Bruno is dismayed, which angers Antonio, who slaps Bruno, greatly upsetting him. Bruno waits by a bridge while Antonio goes in search of the old man, suddenly there are cries that a boy is drowning. Rushing toward the commotion Antonio is relieved to see that the boy is not Bruno. Desperate, Antonio consults the seer, who tells him, Youll find the bike today, leaving the seers house he and Bruno encounter the thief, Antonio pursues him into what turns out to be a brothel, whose denizens quickly eject them. In the street hostile neighbors gather as Antonio accuses the thief, during this commotion Bruno fetches a policeman, who searches the thiefs apartment without result. The policeman tells Antonio the case is weak—Antonio has no witnesses, Antonio and Bruno leave in despair amid jeers and threats from the crowd. On their way home, they near Stadio Nazionale PNF football stadium, inside a game is underway, outside, rows of bicycles await their owners. Antonio sees an unattended bike near a doorway and he paces distractedly, then sits with Bruno on the curb, his hat in his hands
22.
The Walls of Malapaga
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The Walls of Malapaga, is a 1949 Franco-Italian film co-production made by Francinex and Italia Produzione. It was directed by René Clément and produced by Alfredo Guarini from a screenplay by Cesare Zavattini, Suso Cecchi dAmico and Alfredo Guarini adapted by Jean Aurenche, the music score was by Roman Vlad and the cinematography by Louis Page. The film stars Jean Gabin and Isa Miranda, Gabin is a French criminal, Pierre Arrignon, on the run who finds himself in Genoa, Italy, and falls in love with a local girl, Marta Manfredini. The film is set in Italy but the dialogue is primarily in French, the Walls of Malapaga at the Internet Movie Database
23.
Rashomon
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Rashomon is a 1950 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. It stars Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, while the film borrows the title and setting from Ryūnosuke Akutagawas short story Rashōmon, it is actually based on Akutagawas short story In a Grove, which provides the characters and plot. The film is known for a device that involves various characters providing alternative, self-serving. The film opens on a woodcutter and a priest sitting beneath the Rajōmon city gate to stay dry in a downpour, a commoner joins them and they tell him that they have witnessed a disturbing story, which they then begin recounting to him. The priest says that he saw the samurai with his wife traveling the same day the murder happened, both men were then summoned to testify in court, where they met the captured bandit Tajōmaru, who claimed responsibility for killing the samurai and raping his wife. Tajōmaru, a brigand, claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the samurais wife there and she initially tried to defend herself with a dagger, but was eventually seduced by the bandit. The woman, filled with shame, then begged him to duel to the death with her husband, to save her from the guilt, Tajōmaru honorably set the samurai free and dueled with him. In Tajōmarus recollection they fought skillfully and fiercely, but in the end Tajōmaru was the victor, the samurais wife tells a different story to the court. She says that Tajōmaru left after raping her and she begged her husband to forgive her, but he simply looked at her coldly. She then freed him and begged him to kill her so that she would be at peace and he continued to stare at her with a look of loathing. His expression disturbed her so much that she fainted with dagger in hand and she awoke to find her husband dead with the dagger in his chest. She attempted to kill herself, but failed in all her efforts, the court then hears the story of the deceased samurai, told through a medium. The samurai claims that Tajōmaru, after raping his wife, asked her to travel with him and she accepted and asked Tajōmaru to kill her husband so that she would not feel the guilt of belonging to two men. Tajōmaru, shocked by this request, grabbed her, and gave the samurai a choice of letting the woman go or killing her, for these words alone, the dead samurai recounted, I was ready to pardon his crime. The woman fled, and Tajōmaru, after attempting to recapture her, gave up, the samurai then killed himself with his wifes dagger. Later, somebody removed the dagger from his chest, back at Rashōmon gate, the woodcutter explains to the commoner that all three stories were falsehoods. The woodcutter had actually witnessed the rape and murder, he says, according to the woodcutters new story, Tajōmaru begged the samurais wife to marry him, but the woman instead freed her husband
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Akira Kurosawa
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Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a director in 1943, during World War II. The two men would go on to collaborate on another 15 films, Kurosawas wife, Yōko Yaguchi, was also an actress in one of his films. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Kurosawa directed approximately a film a year, including a number of highly regarded films such as Ikiru, Seven Samurai, in 1990, he accepted the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Kurosawa was born on March 23,1910 in Ōimachi in the district of Tokyo. In addition to promoting physical exercise, Isamu Kurosawa was open to western traditions and considered theater and he encouraged his children to watch films, young Akira viewed his first movies at the age of six. During this time, the boy also studied calligraphy and Kendo swordsmanship, another major childhood influence was Heigo Kurosawa, Akiras older brother by four years. In the aftermath of the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, which devastated Tokyo, some commentators have suggested that this incident would influence Kurosawas later artistic career, as the director was seldom hesitant to confront unpleasant truths in his work. In the late 1920s, Heigo became a benshi for Tokyo theaters showing foreign films, Akira, who at this point planned to become a painter, moved in with him, and the two brothers became inseparable. Through Heigo, Akira devoured not only films but also theater and circus performances, while exhibiting his paintings, with the increasing production of talking pictures in the early 1930s, film narrators like Heigo began to lose work, and Akira moved back in with his parents. In July 1933, Heigo committed suicide, only four months later, Kurosawas eldest brother also died, leaving Akira, at age 23, the only one of the Kurosawa brothers still living, together with his three surviving sisters. In 1935, the new film studio Photo Chemical Laboratories, known as P. C. L and his half-mocking view was that if the deficiencies were fundamental, there was no way to correct them. Kurosawas essay earned him a call to take the exams, and director Kajirō Yamamoto. The 25-year-old Kurosawa joined P. C. L. in February 1936, during his five years as an assistant director, Kurosawa worked under numerous directors, but by far the most important figure in his development was Kajiro Yamamoto. Of his 24 films as A. D. he worked on 17 under Yamamoto, many of them featuring the popular actor Kenichi Enomoto. Yamamoto nurtured Kurosawas talent, promoting him directly from third assistant director to assistant director after a year. In the last of Kurosawas films as an assistant director, Horse, Kurosawa took over most of the production, One important piece of advice Yamamoto gave Kurosawa was that a good director needed to master screenwriting
25.
Forbidden Games
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Forbidden Games, is a 1952 French war drama film directed by René Clément and based on François Boyers novel Jeux Interdits. While not initially successful in France, the film was a hit elsewhere and it won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, a Special Award as Best Foreign Language Film in the United States, and a Best Film from any Source at the British Academy Film Awards. It is June 1940, during the Battle of France and she quickly becomes attached to Michel. Michels father first suspects that Michels brothers cross was stolen from the graveyard by his neighbour, eventually, the father finds out that Michel has stolen the cross. Meanwhile, the French gendarmes come to the Dollé household in order to take Paulette, Michel cannot bear the thought of her leaving and tells his father that he would tell him where the stolen crosses are, but in return he should not give Paulette to the gendarmes. Upon its release, it was lambasted by some, who said it was a vicious and unfair picture of the peasantry of France, at the 25th Academy Awards, Forbidden Games won an out-of-competition Special Award as Best Foreign Language Film. In December 1952, at the 24th National Board of Review Awards it was chosen as one of years five top foreign films. At the 1952 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, it won for Best Foreign Language Film, decades after its release, David Ehrenstein called it deeply touching and wrote, Fosseys is quite simply one of the most uncanny pieces of acting ever attempted by a youngster. Clément’s sensitivity doubtless accounts for much of what we see here, the main thee of the soundtrack is an arrangement of the tune Romance. Forbidden Games was released on Laserdisc by Criterion Collection, who also released it on DVD. Forbidden Games at the Internet Movie Database Forbidden Games at AllMovie Forbidden Games at Rotten Tomatoes Criterion Collection essay by Peter Matthews
26.
Gate of Hell (film)
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Gate of Hell is a 1953 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. It tells the story of a samurai who tries to marry a woman he rescues, filmed using Eastmancolor, Gate of Hell was Daiei Films first color film and the first Japanese color film to be released outside Japan. During a rebellion in 1159, the samurai Morito desires the lady-in-waiting Kesa, Morito decides to get rid of his rival. He makes Kesa explain to him how he can kill her husband while he sleeps, Kesa provides very precise instructions, yet when Morito follows through on her plan it is Kesa who gets killed. Morito understands that Kesa has sacrificed herself because she was determined to save Watarus life, according to Crowther, The secret, perhaps, of its rare excitement is the subtlety with which it blends a subterranean flood of hot emotions with the most magnificent flow of surface serenity. The tensions and agonies of violent passions are made to seethe behind a splendid silken screen of stern formality, dignity, self-discipline, the very essence of ancient Japanese culture is rendered a tangible stimulant in this film. Gate of Hell currently holds a 100% approval rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and it won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival. In the United Kingdom, Gate of Hell was released in 2012 on Blu-ray Disc and DVD by the Masters of Cinema, List of jidaigeki films List of historical drama films of Asia Gate of Hell at the Internet Movie Database Jigokumon at AllMovie
27.
Teinosuke Kinugasa
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Teinosuke Kinugasa was a Japanese actor and film director. He was born in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture and died in Kyoto, Kinugasa won the 1954 Palme dor at Cannes for Jigokumon. Kinugasa was among the pioneers of Japanese film, but began his career as an actor specializing in roles at the Nikkatsu studio. Also called A Crazy Page, or A Page Out of Order, a silent film, Kinugasa released it with a new print and score to world acclaim. He also directed the film Jujiro in 1928 and he directed jidaigeki at the Shochiku studios, where he helped establish the career of Chōjirō Hayashi. After the war, he helmed big-budget costume productions for Daiei studios, on February 26,1982, Kinugasa died at the age of 86. 1925, Tsukigata Hanpeita 1926, A Page of Madness 1928, Jujiro 1935, new Perceptions, Kinugasa Teinosukes Films and Japanese Modernism. A Page of Madness, Cinema and Modernity in 1920s Japan, center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan. Kinugasa at the Internet Movie Database Kinugasas JMDb Listing Teinosuke Kinugasas grave
28.
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
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Miyamoto Musashi is a 1954 color Japanese film by Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshiro Mifune. It is the first film of Inagakis Samurai Trilogy of historical adventures, the film is adapted from Eiji Yoshikawas novel Musashi. The novel is based on the life of the famous Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. The film won a Special/Honorary Award at the 1955 Academy Awards for outstanding foreign language film, the other two films in the trilogy are Samurai II, Duel at Ichijoji Temple and Samurai III, Duel at Ganryu Island. Following the battle of Sekigahara, Takezo and his friend Matahachi find themselves on the losing side, instead of the grand victory and glory Takezo had anticipated, he finds himself a hunted fugitive, having to assist a severely injured Matahachi. The pair seek shelter with a widow and her daughter who unknown to them are connected to local brigands, the brigands soon show up and ask for tribute from what the women have stripped off dead samurai, and Takezo has to fight them off. Both women attempt to seduce Takezo but are rejected, the widow then tells Matahachi that Takezo tried to assault her and convinces him to escort her and her daughter to Kyoto. Matahachi agrees even though he loves Otsu, a woman from his village, matahachis mother does not believe him and she is arrested for treason along with many members of her clan. There is a wide search for Takezo, organized by the lord. Even after using his relatives as bait, the villagers cannot catch Takezo, Otsu, meanwhile gets a letter signed by the womans daughter saying that Matahachi has gone off with her and to forget him, which leaves her devastated. Takezo is finally captured by the Buddhist priest Takuan Sōhō, who tells the lord that he must be allowed to use his methods to control him, the priest believes that he can straighten him out, but Takezo escapes with Otsus help. But he is tracked down and Otsu is captured. Takezo is then captured again by the priest when he goes to look for Otsu and he is tricked and locked in a room in the castle for three years. The end of the film shows Takezo being released and granted his samurai name Musashi Miyamoto and he then leaves to search for enlightenment, leaving two messages for Otsu, Soon I will be back and Forgive me. The film begins in the year 1600 with Tokugawa Ieyasus victory in the battle of Sekigahara which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu, though it would take three more years to consolidate the position of power over the other clans. The historical Miyamoto Musashi is believed to have fought in this battle. jmdb. ne. jp/1954/cd002800. htm
listen)) (born 23 February 1938, Prague) is a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography.[citation needed] Some of these films are adapted from works by Czech writers such as Bohumil Hrabal and Vladislav Vančura.