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Czech cinema comprises the cinema of Czech Republic as well as cinema of Austrian-Hungarian Empire or Slovakia and Germany, while this country was a part of other countries. Some early findings enabling the birth of cinematography were made by Czech scientists in the 19th century (such as Jan Evangelista Purkyně).

Quick Facts No. of screens, • Per capita ...
Cinema of the Czech Republic
Kino Světozor in Prague
No. of screens668 (2011)[1]
 • Per capita6.9 per 100,000 (2011)[1]
Main distributorsBontonfilm 34.0%
Falcon 31.0%
Warner Bros. 14.0%[2]
Produced feature films (2011)[3]
Fictional23 (51.1%)
Animated2 (4.4%)
Documentary20 (44.4%)
Number of admissions (2011)[4]
Total10,789,760
 • Per capita1.06 (2012)[5]
National films3,077,585 (28.5%)
Gross box office (2011)[4]
TotalCZK 1.21 billion
National filmsCZK 301 million (24.9%)
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The earliest Czech cinema began in 1898 with Jan Kříženecký, later major contributions were made by interwar directors such as Karel Lamač and Martin Frič, with Barrandov Studios founded in 1933. During WWII, filmmakers like Otakar Vávra continued working despite Nazi occupation.

In the Post-war period, the industry was nationalized, with The Proud Princess (1952) becoming a record hit. The 1958 film The Fabulous World of Jules Verne is considered the most internationally successful Czech film ever made; soon after its release it was distributed to 72 countries and received widespread attention.[6] Domestically, the most viewed Czech film ever is The Proud Princess from 1952, which was seen by 8 million people.[7][8]

The 1960s saw the Czechoslovak New Wave emerge, featuring directors Miloš Forman and Jiří Menzel. The 1970s–80s focused on comedies and family films. In the 1990s, Marketa Lazarová was voted the all-time best Czech movie in a poll of Czech film critics and publicists.

History

The first Czech film director and cinematographer was Jan Kříženecký, who started filming short documentaries in Prague in the second half of 1898. The first permanent cinema house was founded by Viktor Ponrepo in 1907 in Prague.

Interwar period

Among the prominent directors were Karel Lamač, Karl Anton, Svatopluk Innemann, Přemysl Pražský, Martin Frič and Gustav Machatý. The first Czechoslovak film fully made with synchronized sound is considered to be Když struny lkají, released in September 1930.[9] Tonka of the Gallows, released in February 1930, was shot as a silent film and the sound was added in France. Barrandov Studios was launched by Miloš Havel in 1933, which started a Czech film industry film boom. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the larger in Europe.

World War II

During World War II, many major pre-war film directors continued to make films, including Otakar Vávra, Martin Frič, Miroslav Cikán, Jan Sviták (who was murdered at the end of the war by an anti-fascist mob), Vladimír Slavínský, František Čáp, Zdeněk Gina Hašler (who emigrated to the USA after the war) and Václav Binovec.

Vladimír Čech and Václav Krška started their careers during World War II. Scenario writer Karel Steklý turned to film directing at the end of the war and maintained both careers until his death.

Well-known actor Rudolf Hrušínský (born 1920) also directed films during this period.

After World War II

Many prominent people of Czech cinema left the country before World War II including directors Karel Lamač and Gustav Machatý, cinematographer Otto Heller, actors Hugo Haas and Jiří Voskovec and producer Josef Auerbach. Director Vladislav Vančura was murdered by Nazis as were popular actor and signer Karel Hašler, actress Anna Letenská and writer Karel Poláček. Studio owner Miloš Havel and actresses Lída Baarová and Adina Mandlová went into exile in Germany or Austria after they were accused of collaborating with Nazis during the war. In 1943, Czech Film Archive (NFA) was established in Prague.

In 1945, the Czechoslovak film industry was nationalized. The Proud Princess, the most viewed Czech film ever, was released in 1952. It was seen by 8,222,695 people. The film also won a prize for a child film at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.[10][8]

Famous movies of the 1950s include Journey to the Beginning of Time, The Good Soldier Švejk, The Emperor and the Golem, The Princess with the Golden Star, The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, Proud Princess (the most viewed Czech film ever) and Once Upon a Time, There Was a King....

New Wave

Main Article: Czechoslovakian New Wave

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Miloš Forman

The Czechoslovak New Wave frequently is associated with the early works of directors such as Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová, Jiří Menzel and others, but works by older, established Czechoslovak directors such as Karel Kachyňa and Vojtěch Jasný are placed in this category. Encompassing a broad range of works in the early to mid-1960s, the Czechoslovak New Wave cannot be categorized to any one style or approach to filmmaking. Examples range from highly stylised, even avant-garde, literary adaptions using historical themes (e.g. Jan Němec's Diamonds of the Night (Démanty noci)) to semi-improvised comedies with contemporary subjects and amateur actors (e.g., Miloš Forman's The Firemen's Ball (Hoří, má panenko)). However, a frequent feature of films from this period was absurd, black humour and an interest in the concerns of ordinary people, particularly when faced with larger historical or political changes. The acid western comedy film Lemonade Joe was a famous parody of old-time westerns. Cinematic influences included Italian neorealism and the French New Wave, but the Czechoslovak New Wave also builds organically on developments in Czechoslovak cinema in the late 1950s when the influence of Stalinism in the film industry declined.

1970s to 1989

Many of the directors active in the previous periods continued to work in this period, including Otakar Vávra and Jiří Menzel. During the period of normalization, only the movies that Czech authorities considered harmless were made. Therefore the most successful movies from this era are comedies, sci-fi and family movies, like in the previous periods. Three Wishes for Cinderella, a fairy-tale film from 1973, became a holiday classic in Czechoslovakia and several European countries, including Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden and Norway.[11]

1990s and beyond

Successful Czech films made after the Velvet Revolution include Kolya, Divided We Fall, Cosy Dens and Walking Too Fast. In the 1990s, Marketa Lazarová was voted the all-time best Czech movie in a 1998 poll of Czech film critics and publicists.[12][13]

List of Czech films

List of notable Czech directors

Nominations and awards

Nominations for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film

Contenders at Cannes Film Festival

Contenders at Venice Film Festival

Contenders at Moscow Film Festival

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cinema of the Czech Republic.

Further reading

  • Passek, Jean-Loup; Zaoralová, Eva, eds. (1996). Le cinéma tchèque et slovaque. Paris: Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou. ISBN 9782858508921. OCLC 415079480.

References

External links

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