Portál hlavního města Prahy

The Czech Republic had in the sixties at least twenty directors that were known all around Europe. They came from three generations and were given for that time a unique opportunity to make movies as they wanted and they were financially supported by the state. A.J.Liehm remembers the film festival in Mannheim where the Czech cinematography won in six consequent years.

A few creative groups worked at the Barrandov studios and these were lead by personalities like Jan Procházka, Vladimír Bora or Ladislav Fikar. Themes and scripts were discussed by script editors, lectors, in short by educated people that had something to say. This creative ambience gave rise to movies of the so called New Wave. The most significant directors of the era were Miloš Forman-Ivan Passer-Jaroslav Papoušek, Jan Němec, Evald Schorm, Jiří Menzel, Věra Chytilová, Jaromil Jireš and Pavel Juráček. František Vláčil was one generation older and stands somehow apart. Unlike the others he didn’t attend FAMU (Film Academy), he went to the University in Brno instead where he studied aesthetics and history of art. In 1967 his movie Markéta Lazarová entered cinemas. According to Josef Škvorecký this is the most beautiful and wildest spectacle of Czech cinematography.

Jiří Menzel came in 1966 with the famous Oscar-winning movie Closely Watched Trains. He always stressed that his best teacher was Otakar Vávra. It worked the other way round as well. Young women and men of the New Wave (such as famous Chytilova, talented Ester Krumbachova who was a visual artist) helped their teacher Vávra to achieve a new creative energy in movies The Romance for a Flugelhorn or The Witches' Hammer. We shouldn’t forget another creative duo, Karel Kachyňa and Jan Procházka, both of them came up with their top movies in the sixties: Coach to Vienna, Night of the Bride and Ear. The last of the movies was made as late as 1970 and was on black list for twenty years.

These movies and their makers are nowadays considered as legendary, many myths and stories have been woven around them. Whenever they are shown, people still experience a unique mixture of nostalgia and exceptional feelings. Czechoslovakian film industry was in its heyday…

Creative groups in 1968

Švabík – Procházka

They were mainly oriented on movies for young people. In 1968 it was a comedy Our

Crazy Family that was based on script from Jan Procházka and directed by Valášek. It starred Jiřina Jiráskova, Vladimír Menšík, Bohumil Záhorský. After the sudden death of Valášek the movie was finished by Karel Kachyňa. Procházka is also an author of the script for the movie Christmas with Elisabeth that was directed by Karel Kachyňa and for the movie Marathon with Janou Brejchova and Jaromír Hanzlík. The family movie Red shed was directed by Jiříh Hanibal, Ota Hofman was a script writer.

Novotný – Kubala

The main script editor of this group was Bedřich Kubala who also wrote a musical slapstick Limping Devil that was directed by Juraj Herz and starred Václav Neckář together with debuting Jana Šulcova. Jan Němec shot the story from Ester Krumbachova The Murder of Engineer Čert and Jaromil Jireš directed film version of the Nezval novel Valerie and Her Week of Wonders with Jaroslava Schallerova (the movie wasn’t released until 1970). Václav Krška shot a film version of the Turgeněv story Spring Waters starring Vít Olmer and Alžběta Štrkulova (a Girl of the year 1967)

Brož – Feix

The first Oscar winning movie Shop on Main Street was produced by this group as was also the most visited movie of the year 1967 That Czech Song of Ours. Bořivoj Zeman shot the fairy tale Terribly Sad Princess and Vladimír Čech made a musical It was Quarter past and it’ll be Half past and tackled a film version of the Neff novel Thirteenth Chamber. Martin Frič shot his last movie The Best Woman of My Life, based on script by Jaroslava Dietl.

Šebor – Bor

In this group worked Juraj Herz who started with the shooting of the film version of the Fuks book Corpse Burner. Jiří Menzel shot a comic detective story Crime at the Night-Club that starred Suchý and Šlitr. Jindřich Polák directed a film version of the Filip Jánsky book Sky Riders.

Šmída – Fikar

In 1968 they put the highest expectations in the Vojtěcha Jasny movie All the Good Natives. They aimed to make the film version of Kundera’s Joke. The leader of the group, Bohumil Šmída, played a part in the criminal comedy To See a Coffin in a Dream that was directed by Jaroslav Mach.