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Cinema of the Czech Republic

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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)[5]
Total10,789,760
 • Per capita1.06 (2012)[4]
National films3,077,585 (28.5%)
Gross box office (2011)[5]
TotalCZK 1.21 billion
National filmsCZK 301 million (24.9%)

Czech cinema is the name for cinematography of Czech Republic, as well as the Czech cinematography while it was a part of other countries.

The Fabulous World of Jules Verne is considered the most successful Czech film ever made a it was soon after its release distributed to 72 countries in the world and received widespread attention.[6]

Marketa Lazarová was voted the all-time best Czech movie in a prestigious 1998 poll of Czech film critics and publicists.[7][8]

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 most prominent directors were Karel Lamač, Karl Anton, Svatopluk Innemann, Přemysl Pražský, Martin Frič and Gustav Machatý. The first Czech movie with synchronized sound was Tonka of the Gallows in 1930. Barrandov Studios was launched by Miloš Havel in 1933. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe. During World War II the Czech film industry was taken over by the Germans, who made their own movies at Barrandov. Czech movies could only be made in a smaller film studio in Hostivař.

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 a 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. After a communist coup in 1948 only social realist movies were made.[citation needed] Most of the movies of 1950s were ideological, including historical movies, comedies and fairy tales.[citation needed]

New Wave

One the most famous Czech directors Miloš Forman

In the early 1960s a new generation of filmmakers like Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová, Jiří Menzel and Jan Němec started to make movies in opposition to social realist movies of the 1950s. After achieving success in international film festivals, these filmmakers were called Czechoslovak New Wave by foreign film journalists. Even directors who were not part of New Wave (e.g., Karel Kachyňa, Vojtěch Jasný, František Vláčil or Otakar Vávra) made their best movies in the 1960s. Encompassing a broad range of works, the Czechoslovak New Wave cannot be pinned down 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) to semi-improvised comedies with contemporary subjects and amateur actors (e.g., Miloš Forman's The Firemen's Ball). However, a frequent feature of films from this period were their absurd, black humour and an interest in the concerns of ordinary people, particularly when faced with larger historical or political changes. Cinematic influences included Italian neorealism and the French New Wave can be seen in some of the Czech New Wave movies. After Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia New Wave slowly faded away. Many directors were fired from the state owned film studios (Jan Němec, Pavel Juráček, Evald Schorm). Others chose emigration (Miloš Forman, Ivan Passer, Vojtěch Jasný). Some movies that were critical of the communist regime were banned, e.g. The Ear, All My Compatriots and Larks on a String.

1970s to 1989

During the period of normalization, only the movies that communist authorities considered harmless were made. Therefore the most successful movies from this era are comedies, sci-fi and family movies. A fairy-tale film from 1973, Three Nuts for Cinderella has become a holiday classic in Czechoslovakia and several European countries, including Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden and Norway.[9]

1990s and beyond

Among the most successful Czech films made after the Velvet Revolution are: Kolya, Divided We Fall, Cosy Dens and Walking Too Fast.[original research?]

Czech films

List of Czechoslovak films 1898–1990
List of Czech films (List of Czech Republic films) 1990 - today
List of Czech animated films
List of Czech films considered the best
List of most expensive Czech films
List of highest-grossing Czech films

List of notable Czech directors

Nominations and Awards

Czech films nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film

Czech films that competed at Cannes Film Festival

Czech films that competed at Venice 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. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editorlink1= ignored (|editor-link1= suggested) (help)

References

  1. ^ a b "Table 8: Cinema Infrastructure - Capacity". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  2. ^ "Table 6: Share of Top 3 distributors (Excel)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Table 1: Feature Film Production - Genre/Method of Shooting". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Country Profiles". Europa Cinemas. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Table 11: Exhibition - Admissions & Gross Box Office (GBO)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Vynález zkázy je nejúspěšnější český film všech dob. V New Yorku ho promítalo 96 kin současně". Aktuálně.cz - Víte, co se právě děje (in Czech). 19 April 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  7. ^ "TOP 10 CESKO-SLOVENSKEHO HRANEHO FILMU". Mestska kina Uherske Hradiste (in Czech). 1998. Archived from the original on 2 October 1999.
  8. ^ Marketa Lazarová on kfilmu.net (in Czech)
  9. ^ "Tohle jste o pohádce Tři oříšky pro Popelku určitě nevěděli!". Prima (in Czech).
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