The End of Old Times  /  Those Wonderful Movie Cranks

The End of Old Times  (Czechoslovakia, 1989)

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Set in 1918, the year that Czechoslovakia first become an independent democratic republic, this comic farce captures, in its dizzying games of identity and eroticism, the absurd side of a nation in transition. When a nouveau riche businessman is named the state administrator of a resplendent castle, he seizes the opportunity to gain access to the local aristocracy—particularly the snobbish and reclusive Duke Alexej—by organizing a weekend hunting party. At first resentful of the Duke’s absence, he becomes increasingly suspicious after a dashing raconteur turns up claiming to be the Duke. As the charming, libertine interloper casts a spell over the businessman's guests, especially the ladies, the hunting party turns into a romantic romp that roils the household and local gentry, alike.

35mm, color, in Czech with English subtitles, 97 min. Director: Jiří Menzel. Cast: Josef Abrhám, Marián Labuda, Jaromír Hanzlík, Rudolf Hrusínský, Jan Hartl.

New restoration!

Those Wonderful Movie Cranks  (Czechoslovakia, 1979)

An itinerant magician and film exhibitor rambles the turn-of-the-century Czech countryside in a horse-drawn caravan, his young daughter in tow, showing the latest, scandalous one-reelers to audiences and flirting with the local lasses. On assuming another charge—a recently deceased colleague’s comely daughter—he reluctantly settles down in Prague with a welcoming widow with cash enough to help him launch his crazy new idea: A permanent theater for domestically produced motion pictures. Menzel’s charming paean to the early pioneers of Czech cinema plays loose with historical facts to better savor the irony of an ambitious philanderer resisting the very respectability he’s struggling to  on this new medium.

DCP, color, in Czech with English subtitles, 89 min. Director: Jiří Menzel. Screenwriter: Jiří Menzel, Oldrich Vlcek. Cast: Rudolf Hrusínský, Vlasta Fabiánová, Blazena Holisová.