Birth and maturity of Czech cinema
Cinema was born in the Czech Republic in 1898 with the director Jan Kříženecký. Armed with his camera, he travelled through the city of Prague and captured scenes of everyday life to the delight of contemporaries and archivists of the seventh art. You can discover these films online, and you may recognize the Zofin Island where Pragians bathed more than a hundred years ago, or the Svatopluk Čech Bridge, which is crossed during the 1908 Tram Trip , a true gem of this early cinema. At the same time, Viktor Ponrepo founded the city's first permanent cinema at the house At the Blue Pike in Karlova Ulice, opened on September 15, 1907. As a man of the theater, Ponrepo introduced each film and took a bow at the end of the show, and the new attraction quickly gained a loyal audience. The period between the two world wars was an important time for Czech cinema. Two studios were founded by the Havel brothers, A-B Productions and, above all, the large Barrandov studio, which was set up in 1931 by Václav Havel (grandfather of the president of the same name). Still in operation today, it is a must-see for film lovers visiting Prague. At the same time, actress Anny Ondra became an international silent film star, starring with Alfred Hitchcock in The Manxman (1929) and then in Blackmail
(1929), the first British talking picture. With director and actor Karel Lamač, she appeared recurrently in Franco-German productions, before the war put an end to her acting career. In 1945, Czech cinema was nationalized. Most of the pre-war filmmakers had left the country, but others took over when the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival was founded in 1946. It was also during these postwar years that Bořivoj Zeman's The Proud Princess (1952) was released and became the biggest hit in Czech cinema, recording almost nine million admissions. On the animation side, cartoonist and filmmaker Karel Zeman gained international recognition with his films Journey into Prehistory (1955) and Fantastic Adventures (1957). Mixing live action, animation and special effects, Zeman was inspired by Jules Verne for his stories and by Méliès for his productions, creating a unique style that would become a milestone. Today, you can discover his work at the Karel Zeman Museum in Prague. A contemporary of Zeman, Jiří Trnka explored volume animation and puppetry, which he put into practice in The Czech Year (1947) or in his adaptations of texts such as The Brave Soldier Chveïk (1955) or A Midsummer Night's Dream (1959). His last short film, The Hand (1965), sadly foreshadowed the sudden death of the filmmaker in 1969 from a heart attack.The Czech new wave
While the "Prague Spring" was brewing, a new generation of filmmakers appeared. The most famous figure of the movement was undoubtedly Miloš Forman, who directed The Loves of a Blonde (1965) and Firemen (1967), which was selected for official competition at Cannes. After the repression of the "Prague Spring", Forman emigrated to the United States. From there he gained international fame with films such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Hair (1979) and Amadeus (1984). He is one of the few filmmakers to have won the Oscar for Best Director twice, in 1975 and 1984. In another register, Věra Chytilová is also one of the outstanding artists of the Czech new wave. More oriented towards experimental cinema, in 1966 she directed The Little Daisies, a UFO with a confusing but highly visual narrative. Finally, Jiří Menzel(A Whimsical Summer, 1968) and Jan Švankmajer(The Little Coffin Factory in 1967, and especially Alice in 1988) complete this cinematographic trend, whose influence can be felt in Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, and many international productions even today.
Opening, recent perspectives and international shootings
Between the filmmakers who continue to work and the new post-Soviet generation, Czech cinema still has a bright future ahead of it. In 1996, Jan Svěrák's Kolja won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and co-productions such as Divided We Fall (2000) and Pouta (2010) are racking up domestic box-office successes. Recently, Václav Marhoul's The Painted Bird (2019) has been praised by international critics, while a new generation of animators, led by Michaela Pavlátová(My Afghan Family, 2021), is becoming part of the ever more active fabric of European co-productions. Recently, Florence Miailhe's La Traversée (2021) was a critical success, receiving a jury award at the Annecy Film Festival. The Czech Republic has also become a very important location for filming, thanks in particular to the experience of Barrandov Studios. Among notable productions, Martin Campbell's Casino Royale (2006) happily uses the splendid settings of the Kaiserbad Spa and the Grandhotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary instead of Montenegro, while the National Museum in Prague appears as the lobby of a Venetian hotel. Ten years earlier, the city was featured in Mission Impossible , and you can easily immerse yourself in the film by walking down Platnerska Street, which has remained virtually unchanged since the filming.
See you at the cinema and at festivals
The Kino Svetozor in Prague, which has been open since 1918, is just one of the many cinemas in the city where you can see the latest international films in their original version with subtitles. The Kino Ponrepo houses the archives of the National Film Archive, where you can see 35mm films, to the delight of the most avid film buffs. The Karlovy Vary Film Festival, which takes place every year in the city's cinemas and theaters, is a must-see festival. Book your tickets well in advance, as this event is popular with programmers and film lovers from all over the world.
