Jan Drda

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Leopold Kohák married a rich widow a long time ago and now has nothing to do compared to his energetic wife. He's growing old and troubled by the fact that he betrayed his first love Emča and his beloved river Sázava where he spent his childhood and youth. A visit from an old friend Lebeda brings it all back to him. After a nervous breakdown Leopold secretly visits his home instead of going to the spa. A wandering tramp suggest Leopold should bathe in the magical waters of the Sázava, and slowly his youth returns to him.

A small Czech town in the 1860s. The townspeople once made a fortune from the proceeds of gold mines that are now flooded. However, they do not want to invest in draining them, as they are convinced that it is not worth it. However, the cessation of mining has plunged the miners' family into poverty. After vain requests for help in the town and the governor's office, the miners decide to take action themselves...

During the Nazi occupation of a Czech city civilians are being rounded up on the slightest of pretexts and shot. One day three high school boys who crack jokes about a recently deceased "hero of the Reich" are pulled out of school by the Gestapo.

The mysterious story of a young girl Pavla, who mysteriously disappeared from her mother five years ago, takes place in the dark corners of the Bratislava port. The girl was kidnapped by the hypnotist Lascani, who performs in a variety show and has just arrived in Pavla's hometown on his travels. He completely controls his victim and Pavla doesn't remember anything. She has to act as his "medium" with Lascani and even has to be his lover. However, a young boatman, Franta, falls in love with the girl and tries to free her...

The families of Vavruš Cagala and Cyril Hanulík live in a secluded area in the Beskydy Mountains. Vavruš and Cyril are hardworking woodcutters and foremen. Cagala's daughter Terezka likes Tomáš Hanulík, but she also likes Pavel Zgabaj, the son of the owner of the farms in the valley. Cyril Hanulík is jealous of his Heva and wrongly suspects her of infidelity. Francek, whom Heva loved before their marriage, takes revenge on the Hanulíks: he sets fire to their apiary, from which he seizes Cagala's hayloft. Since then, misfortune has befallen the Cagala family. They lose their horses and wood, and old Zgabaj demands the money he lent them. He is only willing to back down from his demands if Terezka marries his son. Cagala does not want to allow her daughter to sacrifice herself, so the girl secretly goes to the farm to work there as a helper on the farm...

Wandering through the forest, a woodcutter finds a golden fern whose seed turns into a beautiful woman - they fall in love. After getting drunk in a village feast, he gets to sign up to the army. The fairy gives him a shirt to wear and asks him to swear he will never abandon it. At the war front, he falls in love with the the colonel's daughter and will have to perform various feats to get her attention.

A fiction piece centered around the Czech resistance to the Nazis.

Fairy tale about young cobbler Jíra, who had fashioned wings from leather in order to rescue princess Jasnenka from the tower of the royal castle, where her father had closed her to to save her from the evil witch and her daughter Cernava.

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A young and beautiful princess and her senile husband arrive at a castle near the village. The healthy air is supposed to help them with their busy heir. The princess accidentally meets the village shepherd Sochor and soon gives birth to a son. The young man from the village in question then marries and has only daughters. The princess returns after years with her clever son. He falls in love with Sochor's daughter, but her father drives him with a belt...

A fearless soldier, Marcin Kabat, returns from war and befriends the outlaw Sarka-Farka as they journey to Devil’s Mill, where demons prey on human souls. When two maidens, Princess Disperanda and her handmaiden Kasia, fall victim to Beelzebub’s pact, Marcin and Sarka-Farka use courage and cunning to outwit the devils and save them from infernal temptation.

A poor miner, Kuba Dařbuján, cares for his wife Markýtka and eleven children. When a newborn arrives, he seeks a godfather and, finding only Death fair to all, accepts a pact: as a doctor whom Death accompanies at the foot of a patient’s bed, he can heal; but if Death stands at the head, no cure is possible. Kuba eventually heals even a miserly brewer, violating the pact and imprisoning Death, leading to a world where no one can die and unforeseen chaos follows.

Dora, a lazy and evil woman, is in love with her servant, Hannes. Hannes, however, loves her sister-in-law, Margareta. When Dora learns about this, she vows revenge against the couple.

The miner Dařbuján has a lot of children that he cannot support and another one has just been born. He needs to find a godfather and three are offered: God, the Devil and Death. Dařbuján chooses Death because he is the only one who is fair, he treats the poor and the rich equally. When Dařbuján is considering what to do to provide for his family, Death advises him to get a doctorate and immediately offers him help in his new trade. If Death stands at the feet of a sick person, Dařbuján will heal him within three days. However, if he stands at the head, the sick person is finished and Dařbuján must not interfere in his trade...

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Prague, the beginning of the 17th century. Rozina falls in love with Italian glass worker Nikolo, but after returning home, she gets a message that will never come to Prague. She falls for the promise of an older man to marry her, but when Nikolo does return, the tragic fate of Rozina is sealed.

Inspired by two fairy tales by Jan Drda, this film tells the story of young Matěj, who enjoys a good riddle. When he is chased off by a farmer for falling in love with his daughter Majdalenka, he sets off to the castle to see the princess, who presents her suitors with three riddles. But Matěj always escapes any pitfalls that he may encounter. (filmovyprehled)

Havíř's wife Barbora is a bit of a fool. She believes everything she is told and thus prepares her patient husband for unenviable moments. In the end, the miner gets really angry! He decides to go out into the world to see if there is anyone more stupid than his own wife. If so, he will return to his wife. But to his surprise, he finds plenty of such people in the world. And he stands to make a fortune. But when he returns home, he finds that his wife hasn't changed at all. Stupidity is eternal!

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