Jiří Valenta

No description available.

People in Czechoslovakia perceive the events of February 1948 differently. This movie tells how they behave depending on their views, beliefs and character.

The journey of the Třeboň paddlers to the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Helsinki (1952).

A selfish self-centered widowed ruler, barely tolerated by his subjects and called appropriately enough, 'King Myself, First' asks his three daughters to name the measure of their love for him. When one of them says, "more than salt", he banishes her from the kingdom. Not understanding what she meant the King assumes love can only be measured by precious metals or one's own talent, the 'correct' answers from his other two daughters. The arrogance of the King leads him to gather all the salt in the kingdom and destroy it. Of course, this backfires as he slowly learns the universal value of the substance, and of course, the essence of his daughter's reply. With the help of the wise and magical old 'herb woman', the King also learns what it means to be a true and wise ruler.

Mr. Angel goes winter sporting and at the same time investigates his son's fiancee.

An innkeeper is grieving because his wife left him for a second-rate actor. His two nephews, who are not on speaking terms, have to take over the running of the establishment...

This feature film based on the events of 1938 is a chronicle of the futile efforts of the Czechoslovak president Edvard Benes (Jirí Pleskot), politicians and ordinary citizens, to save the independence and the territorial integrity of the state from the advance of Hitler's Germany. On the 29th of March 1938 the leader of the Sudeten Germans Henlein (Werner Ehrlicher) has a meeting with Hitler (Gunnar Möller). Hitler orders him to intensify pressure on the Czechoslovak government. On the 24th of April in Carlsbad, the Sudetendeutsche Partei (Sudeten German Party) decides upon eight demands that are unacceptable to the Czechoslovak President, since they would ultimately lead to the break-up of the Republic. Benes still shows a certain willingness to negotiate, and Henlein resents this. The Germans are determined to make further negotiations impossible through incidents and violence.

It is the summer of 1968 and also in South Moravian Pálavice appear political clashes. The so far peacefully farming Unified farmers' cooperative starts splitting. Some of the farmers have found the cooperative called Vidrupa and want to deal with wine in private trade. Michal Janák, chairman of the farmers' cooperative is a deliberate man and refuses the latent return to the capitalism. As an excellent farmer he continues preparing planting out new vineyards. His adversaries do not agree - the returns will come many years later. Jozka Hrdlicka, an émigré, notices on the Austrian TV the interview with the representatives of Vidrupa and decides to visit his native village. The new suit and the hired car transform the bankrupt and criminal to the successful businessman with wine.

The sad hero of the story, Petr, an ordinary lawyer in a construction company, is crowded into a small apartment in Žižkov with his wife and grandparents, desperately struggling with the lack of money. One day he offers an old man a seat on a crowded trolley bus and is generously rewarded for his good deed, for the unknown old man is a fabulous grandfather. He gives Peter a magic bell and the opportunity to make three wishes, but the first two slip through his fingers. For the third, the astonished man must take time to think...

Bratislava, 1930s. The owner of a luxury tailoring salon, Alfréd Blum, has always relied on a classy clientele, thanks to which he rose to the top of society. But times change, the world is in an economic crisis, and Blum discovers that in reality he only has debts. He has completely lost his assets in shares, and his clients have to deny themselves luxury goods. The only hope to save his family from poverty is Blum's life insurance policy for 300,000 crowns. Therefore, the businessman turns to his old acquaintance, unemployed tailor Ján Kepeš, with an unusual offer. He gives him five thousand crowns and arranges a job for him in a Viennese salon. The condition is that Kepeš kills Blum...

A new teacher with high standards and a strong sense of duty replaces an easy grader. Once bad grades begin to pile up, a product of his predecessor's subservience to the system, the new teacher has to stand up for himself and his students.

Mr. Novák, an insurance company clerk, only cares about his job, nothing else interests him. Even the social changes in February 1948 leave him indifferent. He only becomes aware of them when the insurance company is closed down. He has to make a decision: either retire or go to work in a factory. Neither of these options appeals to Mr. Novák...

Alienation between the closest relatives is always a serious disorder of family judgment. Father and son not only do not see each other, but one does not even recognize the other when they meet by chance. No wonder, since the father has been in prison for a long time and his son was raised by a former family friend after his mother's death...

This castle has its own ghost - a mysterious White lady. She emerges from the painting on the wall when someone speaks out magic formula. White lady is good ghost, she can make someone's wishes true. Even if it is a new duct. But a miracle is not the thing that Communist leaders want in the town.

A robbery in a Prague jeweler's shop results in the shop manager Kubát and his deputy Litera being shot and wounded. The culprits take the jewelery away in a stolen car and that very night hide the loot tens of kilometers outside Prague in a forest. Then the three robbers part with each other. One of them, Burian, leaves in the same car, the other two, Duda and Hovorka, take to flight in another car, which soon ends up in a car crash. Hovorka dies in the accident, but Duda survives and hides in an abandoned cottage. Burian is arrested, Duda is traced out by a police dog. Duda confesses to the robbery to the criminologist Málek, but refuses to say where is the jewelery. The robber then begins to shoot and Málek kills him in self-defense. The court fails to prove Litera's involvement in the robbery and the only one convicted is Burian. The disappointed Málek leaves the police and begins to work as a cab driver.

A comedy about a young salesman Havelka, who gets his life's wish. He wins his dream car Spartacus in a lottery. So together with his fiancée, they experience a happiness they have never known before and have no idea that their dream car will complicate their lives...

If a girl has such an uninteresting occupation that she sells flowers, she likes to indulge in daydreaming, where she can experience unsuspected adventures. But a real suitor who courts a girl is more attractive...

“And what did you do at school today?” In Pavel Hobl’s Czech fairytale, when Pepik and Honzik learn that school has been canceled they embark on an amazing odyssey around Prague that has them directing traffic, following the lead of a talking dog, breaking the spell an evil sorcerer has placed on a group of local musicians, rollerskating through a museum, and winning a magical car race. (University of Chicago Doc Films)

No description available.

Biography of Karel Čapek.