Antonín Máša
Writing
Biography
Antonín Máša was a Czech screenwriter, director, and playwright, known for his contributions to Czechoslovak New Wave cinema. After studying journalism in Prague, he transitioned into filmmaking, collaborating with notable directors such as Evald Schorm. Máša's work often delved into the complexities of human relationships and societal norms. Notable films include Courage for Every Day (1964), The Return of the Prodigal Son (1967), and The End of a Priest (1969). His films are recognized for their introspective narratives and critical examination of contemporary society, contributing significantly to the cultural landscape of Czech cinema.
Known For
Television series Golden Sixties examines new insights into Czech and Slovak cinema of the 1960s and the role of the Czechoslovak New Wave. Each episode focuses on a different filmmaker.
Golden Sixties

In the aftermath of World War II, a soldier takes charge of a manor formerly owned by a German family and falls in love with the daughter, now a maid. Their relationship forces him to confront the tension between his love and his conscience.
Adelheid

An epic exploration of the Czechoslovak New Wave cinema of the 1960s and 70s, structured around a series of conversations with one of its most acclaimed exponents - Closely Observed Trains director Jiří Menzel.
CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel
No description available.
Návštěvní hodiny

Cast out by his father, young Ondrej joins the Order of the Teutonic Knights, where he is raised by strict monk Armin. After years of hardship, Ondrej escapes from the Order when he is wrongly punished, and sets out for his former home. Arriving to discover his father to be dead, Ondrej now not only assumes control of his father's properties, but seeks to marry his former stepmother.
The Valley of the Bees

Story about the people around the circus and the unfortunate love of a young man an acrobat. Before the dispute escalates so much that, according to the old clown, Vincek ends up with a noose on his back and Lotyš in a bass, fate intervenes and the young acrobat is called up to the war, where he serves with the dragoons. After serving his time and being released into civilian life, he sets out to find the National with his beloved Nina. However, she has not been with the circus for almost a whole year. Her parents took her away and Vincek, to the chagrin of his friends and the principal, decides to go looking for her. After a long journey, he finds his beloved in the Russian Kuznecki circus, but she has changed a lot during the years of separation. A simple girl in love has turned into a calculating, ambitious woman who desires money above all. But Vincek doesn't have you.
People From Caravans

Life of Czechoslovak soldiers in a military unit for the so called "politically unreliable" - the Technical auxiliary battalions, aka "the black barons". Although it might seem like a political satire and it's mostly funny, it shows the reality and the absurdity of military service under the communist regime. Based on a novel by Miloslav Svandrlik.
Black Barons
The theatre director encounters the disinterest and irresponsibility of the acting troupe, whose members are scheming and looking for side income. The tired and sick artist wants to finish his work at any cost.
Byli jsme to my?

Three separate short stories by Jan Drda from the collection The Dumb Barricade: The Dynamite Watchman, Hatred and Traces.
The Dynamite Watcher

An allegory set in an archetypal Czech village, it tells the story of what happens when a series of mysterious events take place, including the disappearance of the station master. While everything has a rational explanation, collective paranoia takes over and everyone's worst instincts are unleashed. Interrogations, disenfranchisement, and the search for scapegoats ultimately lead to murder. The movie was completed in 1969, but it was banned and not released till 1990, Evald Schorm who died in 1988 never saw it completed.
The Seventh Day, the Eighth Night
No description available.
Rodeo

A passionate communist worker is discouraged by the changing political climate and the failure of his peers to live up to his ideals.
Courage for Every Day

A gifted poet checks into a Gothic hotel in hopes of meeting the woman with whom he has long been enamored. He is surrounded by a variety of offbeat characters like the hefty homosexual cook, shadowy clerks, snooty waiters, and valets prone to violence. He finally meets the woman of his dreams only to lose her and ultimately meet with tragedy.
Hotel for Strangers

A film in five episodes, all based on an attempt to show the life of young people today, their feelings and relationships, their behaviour in public and private life.
A Place in the Crowd

Jurácek's feature debut is shot in two parts. In the first, a corporal accompanies a new recruit with a sore Achilles tendon for his physical, and all the girls or young women they see are played by the same actress (Ruzickova). In the longer second segment, shot with the help of the Czechoslovakia army, the soldiers pass the time during basic training and maneuvers by talking about girls.
Every Young Man
Screenwriter Antonín Máša wrote a television production Zurvalec based on Turgenev's short story. It is a psychological drama about the conflicting encounter between Lieutenant Kister and the dangerous duelant Captain Luchkov, who drives away the boredom of an empty life in a backwater province with a series of violent acts. The tense relationship between the two men, expressing a contradiction of creative tolerance and aggression, is exacerbated by their interest in a woman who succumbs to admiration for the "predator" Luchkov. The tragic confrontation of different approaches to life raises the question of the possibilities of defending human decency over evil.
Zurvalec
Young script-writer Frantisek (Petr Cepek) is hired to write a film script based on the successful novel Looking Back. He meets with the novel's female author, a University professor and writer named Olga Machová (Jirina Trebická), approximately ten-years-older than him. In the beginning, they do not understand each other at all. Frantisek is a skeptic experiencing a moral crisis, unsatisfied with both his work and his private life - he lives separated from his wife and has no deeper feelings for his numerous lovers. He even gets drunk from time to time and breaks the public peace. Olga is lonesome, too, but considers her life fulfilled.
Looking Back

The Mráz family is preparing for holidays. Parents are traveling to the spa and little Petr is going to the country to his grandparents. In addition, to the chaotic preparations, mother's friend is bringing a dog Blek. She wants Petr to look after it. Grandfather welcomes Petr and the dog with pleasure because he needs the ally against strict grandmother. Grandfather is not very skillful and thus grandmother often experiences troubles with his ideas.
Holiday for a Dog

Bohouš Burda, a forty-year-old idealist disillusioned with city life and his failing marriage, abandons it all to run a mobile dental clinic in the mountains. He meets Terezka, who shares his yearning for a simpler existence, but even in remote nature they must confront unforeseen challenges.
What's Up Doc?
No description available.