Tag: czechoslovakia

Do you have any change? “Run, Waiter, Run!” (“Vrchní, prchni”, 1981)

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directed by Ladislav Smoljak
© 1981 Filmové studio Barrandov. All Rights Reserved.

Not that long time ago I recommended you a drama about a waiter, and today we’re kind of getting back to that topic, just in a different mood. I’m a big fan of Czech humour, although I know that it’s not that popular among everyone. However, I definitely recommend you to check out today’s film because it can be a great culture lesson for everyone outside Czechia or Slovakia. Back then, when the film was being made, those two countries were one – Czechoslovakia, and they still do share a lot with each other, including that specific sense of humour. In this story we get to meet Dalibor (Josef Abrhám), who’s a middle-aged guy that hasn’t been much successful in life. He owns a little bookstore, doesn’t have an impressive car and struggles with finances basically all the time. Additionally, he’s not very good at choosing right women and for sure not at keeping them satisfied, since he already has two ex-wives and a new one, who isn’t that thrilled to be married to Dalibor. And he has to find enough money to pay them all, so imagine how difficult it must be for a simple bookstore manager. But then, one day, an angel appears to save the man from his troubles… or rather a drunk guy who accidentally takes Dalibor for a waiter and gives him money for his service, which obviously wasn’t really his. Still, that was enough for our broke guy to come up with a smart idea – he decides to dress up as a waiter, go to restaurants, pretend to be working there and collect money from the guests. And then, well, run. If this description doesn’t sound Czech to you, I guess you don’t know much about their culture. Add cheerful Czech music and sexual jokes and voilà, we’ve got a perfect Czech comedy. Oh, I forgot to mention that Dalibor suffers from a very serious condition, which makes him visualise most women in dirty circumstances… You call it “every man”, I call it “that’s the joke”. But that is why I adore Czech humour because they actually don’t mind laughing at themselves, which is wonderful and I believe we don’t think any less of them because of that, quite the opposite. Fun fact – the idea for this film came to Zdeněk Svěrák, the screenwriter, when he once went to a pub dressed up in a more elegant way and suddenly lots of guests sitting there expected him to serve them. But hey, after watching this comedy I’ll be paying more attention to this matter because I’ve just realised – we don’t really care who serves us. Sometimes we do have one waiter assigned to our table, but sometimes they change and it wouldn’t be that difficult to trick us. All you need is a nice suit/shirt, a wallet and a bit of gel on your hair. Although, nowadays most people pay with cards… or phones… damn it, technology kills such wonderful ideas. Still, if you feel inspired to try Dalibor’s method, make sure to message me with the details before the police catch you. Thank you in advance!

My rating: 7/10
S.

Human dignity is a beautiful thing, just not for a waiter. “Hotel Pacific” (“Zaklęte rewiry”, 1975)

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directed by Janusz Majewski
© 1975 Zespół Filmowy Tor. All Rights Reserved.

Recently, I’ve read a reportage about waiters, where I could learn a little bit more about their perspectives. I’ve never had a chance to work as one, even when I was yet a student, so some of their stories surprised me indeed. And in order to put a spotlight on this particular professional group, I’ve decided to recommend you a Polish-Czechoslovak film, which may be especially interesting to those of you who, like me, never worked in a restaurant. The film was made in 1975, but the story is set in the 30s. We get to meet Roman (Marek Kondrat), a teenager coming from the countryside, who wants to find a job in the city. He accidentally enters the restaurant of a fancy hotel called “Pacific”, where they randomly offer him to become their dishwasher. Roman is used to hard and honest work, yet very quickly he realises that it’s not how you do it in such place. Even though I’ve never worked in a restaurant, I don’t live in a total bubble and I know how radical certain decision are made there, like when it comes to leftovers and such. So if you’re not a person riding a unicorn on the rainbow either, you won’t be that surprised. Still, the best part is when Roman is promoted to serve in the restaurant and you can see the contrast between what’s happening in the dining room and what’s happening out back. Even though this film is mostly dramatic, there are numerous moments where you can actually have a laugh. But generally, I found it confusing, which in this case is a big plus. What I mean is that Roman is a genuine, honest and hard-working person, but he has to fight against himself in order to be respected in that specific workplace. Soon he realises that everyone’s playing some kind of game and the better you play it, the longer you may stay there. In fact, you may be promoted as long as they don’t find out about your lies. Personally, I see myself in the character of Roman, because I’ve been taught to do my best, strive for excellence and be a decent human – polite, fair and supportive. Yet, as we all see, the world is not such a wonderful place and you have to adapt to the reality. Also, it shows how much artifice is around us. Even the Czechoslovak title of this film emphasises this point: “Dvojí svět hotelu Pacifik”, which means “A double world of hotel Pacific”. The waiter may seem like your best friend who wants you to enjoy your time, but in fact, they have a specific plan to make you stay longer, order more, pay extra. Simple as that. And I’m not judging – it’s actually pretty fair, business is business, everyone wants to earn more. But I also admire how much you need to coordinate your work as a waiter, because if you’re a good one and your guests are of a much higher status, there are numerous rules you need to remember. I believe one of my favourite moments of this film is when Roman serves one man and he asks for a glass of alcohol. Taught by his superior, Roman brings the whole bottle to the table, hoping that the guest won’t mind and, in the end, pays for the whole bottle, not just one glass. The man, however, gets furious and then Roman finds out that he’s a frequent flyer, who’s also an alcoholic, so he will easily drink that whole bottle, but he doesn’t want anyone to know, so he pretends to be having only one glass. Roman’s job is to keep filling that one glass from time to time, but never leave the bottle on the table. So, one glass stays just one glass, right? That scene says so much about this profession and the world we’re living in. Because even though the film is set in the 30s, so almost 100 years ago, I believe this whole game is ongoing. Make sure to watch it and develop your own opinion. Cheers!

My rating: 7/10
S.

A je to! “Pat and Mat in a Movie” (“Pat a Mat ve filmu”, 2016)

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directed by Marek Beneš
© 2016 Patmat Film. All Rights Reserved.

Today I’m taking you to my childhood and I hope that thanks to this recommendation more of you will find out about Pat and Mat. Well, Pat and Mat are two amazing tinkers (by the way, that’s exactly how the series was supposed to be called – “Kuťáci”, which could be translated as “The Tinkers”), who are incredibly creative and no matter how much they complicate their tasks, they always end up with a happy ending. Today’s recommendation is obviously about a film, but Pat and Mat are known mostly for their series, which was released for the first time in 1976! 1976, yes my dear! Back then we had Czechoslovakia in Europe and it was one of the best animated series, at least in my opinion. I’m not coming from there, yet I spent my childhood watching Pat and Mat and I believe they had a huge influence on me, to be honest. Because they basically always complicate everything, but somehow, in the end, they succeed and, even though the whole house is ruined, they are satisfied. I know it may seem like a silly series, yet it honestly gave me a lot of lessons. First, never give up no matter how difficult your problem is. There’s always a way, even if sometimes you need to get crazy. Second, be creative. If you think there’s no way to solve something, it means you’re not creative enough. Just wake up your imagination and do it. And third, the most important, don’t worry about your failures. You broke a window while fixing pipes? No worries, it’s fixable. And if you break a cupboard while fixing the window, again, no worries, it’s fixable as well. Generally, don’t worry, everything is fixable. You can’t even imagine how thankful I am for spending my childhood with those two guys. And when it comes to the film itself, it’s a stop-motion animation, which even now looks amazing, in my opinion. Plus, Pat and Mat don’t speak, so I believe anyone in the world can see them and understand perfectly. In fact, the series has been shown in many countries all over the world, so if you don’t know it, shame on you. The film I’m recommending today is basically about Pat and Mat watching their own adventures, so it’s like watching the series for 80 minutes. I had a lot of fun, nostalgia hit incredibly hard, and I couldn’t stop myself from writing about it. May Pat and Mat be seen by you! By the way, the post title comes from one of the series titles and it means “and that’s it”. So… and that’s it. A je to! (and here Pat and Mat do their wonderful gesture, which I cannot explain, but you can see it in the picture and will see it after every well-done job).

My rating: 8/10
S.

Lights out! “The Firemen’s Ball” (“Hoří, má panenko”, 1967)

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directed by Miloš Forman
© 1967 Ústřední půjčovna filmů. All Rights Reserved.

This film is definitely not for everyone. First of all, it’s by Miloš Forman, who had a very specific way of making films. Second of all, it’s a Czech comedy and Czech humour can be quite inappropriate sometimes. But luckily, I’m a person who adores those silly jokes and Forman’s style, so today I’m recommending you “The Firemen’s Ball”. It’s actually a fun story, because Forman was working on a different project and then he went with friends to a fireman’s ball. That night was an absolute disaster according to all of them and that’s why he decided to make this comedy. See? You can get inspired even at a terrible party with way too much alcohol and bad music. So as you might be guessing, the film presents a ball organised by firemen in one small town in Czechoslovakia (it was one country, now we have two, glad I could give you a quick geography lesson). The firemen want to prepare a lot of fun activities, decorations and attractions, but in the end, the party turns out to be a complete disaster. As I said, I was laughing a lot, but I know that not everybody likes such humour. Still, Forman is a well-know and highly appreciated filmmaker, so you can see his work before he moved to the USA. And making films back then in a small Czechoslovak town wasn’t that easy. For example, they had some sounds problems and it was difficult to record dialogues since in the background there were plenty of people having fun in the ballroom. That is why, they asked the actors to dance only in their socks or slippers, not to make too much noise. Try to observe that, maybe you’ll spot some nice slippers while watching.

My rating: 6.5/10
S.