Steva Maršálek

Unlike any other opera, the so-called Beggar's Opera is not just one composition, but a lineage of adapted compositions, beginning with the original hugely successful 1728 political satire written by Englishman John Gay. Composers and writers have penned variations on it ever since. The most famous of these was A Threepenny Opera by Bertholt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Some things these compositions share in common is their setting among the poor and criminal classes, and the roguish character Macheath. This production is based on an adaptation of Gay's original by Vaclav Havel the freedom-fighter, writer and philosopher who became the first (and only) president of the united post-communist country of Czechoslovakia, and it retains many traces of its theatrical origins. Film reviewers were not too tolerant of what they called "slavish adherence" to the noted Czech writer's stage production, but theater, philosophy and history buffs may feel otherwise.

Professional thief Martin is assigned to steal the largest diamond in the Czech Repbulic, the Czar's Prism for $3M. Needing extra help, Martin brings in his former partner Mandy, an excellent sharpshooter with lethal martial arts skills. Together with two young pickpockets, the group sets out in an adventure of espionage, double-crossing, and explosive action.

Comic tale of a cynical TV star's slow-combustion romance with a young paraplegic.

A king was dying. An old man told his sons that only the water of life would save him.

Jan Kačer became known primarily as an actor, but he also took up film directing several times - not very successfully. Based on someone else's script, he made a committed, building story: it tells the story of an experienced engineer who is commissioned to assemble a team of specialists for engineering the peaceful use of atomic energy. However, the explanation of human dilemmas is too flat and proclamatory, as is the image of Ostrava's industrial environment; the heroes are thinking about one thing: the proper completion of the assigned task...

When a comet passes the Earth at close range, it pulls a small part of North Africa with it. Carried along are a bunch of people, among them Angelika, who has just escaped from a ruthless weapon dealer's ship, and her two brothers, who are searching for her. Then there's a group of natives planning a rebellion against the French colonists. All conflicts become secondary when the people finally realize that they're doomed to live together on an alien planet. However, this time of peace and happiness won't last for long...

Based on an autobiographical novella by Ivan Olbracht, the film tells the story of Hanele Safarová, who grows up just after the First World War in a little Ruthenian schtetl which, in true Hassidic fashion, awaits the arrival of the Messiah. But Hanele decides to follow the Zionists instead. She moves to the city to prepare for her departure to the Promised Land, where she meets a successful businessman named Ivo Karadzic, who has renounced Judaism to become a free-thinker. Their love for each other doesn’t only drive Hanele’s parents to distraction, it also threatens to destroy the entire community in the schetl.

Even the best of friends can fall apart, often all it takes is a minor misunderstanding. That's exactly what happened to two village friends, children finishing elementary school, between whom hostility and suspicion suddenly set in. The mosaic-like plot contains a number of humorous observations, but overall it distances itself from any ambition to deeply affect the mentality of adolescents, much less the countryside.

The children's detective story describes a thrilling and cheerful search for a lynx that someone stole from the zoo corner of the house of pioneers and young people (the creators apparently assume that large carnivores are commonly bred in the children's facility). However, the film is made completely ingeniously, the naïve plots hardly catch the eye. In one of the last roles, Vladimír Menšík will introduce himself as a police captain, leading a long-complicated investigation

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Schoolboys discover that if sitting in a certain rocky cliff area in the forest, they can memorize anything they read there for exams the following day. Turns out the rocky cliff has a cave in which they make an incredible discovery.

Ondrej lives on a farm outside a small town with his family. One day a group of men arrive at the family's house and the harmonious life they've led so far changes drastically for the worse.

The distressing fate of the Czech great Jan Amos Komenský, forced to leave his homeland after the White Mountain disaster. It depicts his encounters with various European personalities of the 17th century - the Queen of Sweden, artists and scientists. It emphasises the hero's nobility, but also his inner resilience, which allowed him to overcome many personal and professional tragedies. The parable of The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart becomes part of the story. However, Comenius's concept is sculpturally lifeless and, in particular, the religious dimension is "erased" from it. The simplistic biography therefore does not avoid schoolboyish dryness.

In 1930s Ukraine, the desecration of a sacred bath disrupts the sex lives of Jewish villagers.

A retired soldier, Martin, is returning home after twelve years of service. On the way, he stops in a small Wallachian village, which is ruled by a stingy and ruthless fojt with the help of a sycophantic scoundrel and the local priest. Martin witnesses how he takes the only cow from the widower Kryštof and his five children for a few pennies, how he denies payment of the debt to Jura and Juříček, who then force them to work in his forest for free, how he denies his share of the inheritance to his brother Štěpán, who is in love with the charming Anička. Martin does not want to let all this go by so he decides to help the villagers and punish the fojt. Soon, strange things start happening in the village and the fojt is increasingly afraid that the devil is behind everything. In his place, Martin appears with a cunning plan, the main part of which is a recipe for axe soup.

Thieves Svarc and Cihák are interrupted in their robbery of a jeweler's store. In order to disappear as quickly as possible, they jump into the nearest car and leave, finding on the way that a little boy named Jirka, son of the car's owner, is with them. They take him to a cottage where Cihák's eighteen-year old daughter Milena attends to him. Jirka first treats Milena with hostility, but as days pass, the "prisoner" and the "guard" become close. Milena cooks for the boy and takes care of him, but nothing can intimidate the dauntless Jirka and he seeks for the first opportunity to escape.