Tribute to Karel Vachek 2010 / Záviš, kníže pornofolku pod vlivem Griffithovy Intolerance a Tatiho Prázdnin pana Hulota aneb Vznik a zánik Československa (1918–1992) / Czech Republic 2006
A film essay about Czechoslovakia then and the Czech Republic now. An almost surrealistic collage of the commonplace absurdities which surround us without our giving them a second thought. Vachek’s lectures at FAMU on the creative approach to life, and the vulgar lyrics of songster Záviš, known as the "Prince of Pornofolk”.
Who’s the Old Dickhead around here, then? An errant three-legged dog and the nonconformist songster Záviš, whose "pornographic” lyrics brim with vulgarity and obscenities, are our guides through a world in which insanity and self-destructive behaviour triumph over common sense and spontaneity. What message would Edvard Beneš and Alexander Dubček like to pass on to this world? Or provocative Czech conceptual artists for that matter? The film’s absurd, often somewhat grotesquely apocalyptic images (a tomato ketchup bonanza, a battle reconstruction, motorcycle jumps, the Prague marathon, a dog’s funeral), frequently captured in very long shots, gradually compose a cautionary testimony of the spurious, indifferent and senseless existence of the individual in a society founded on mass "pseudoactivities”. But Vachek always offers possible alternatives to these "pseudoevents” and frustrating, logic-defying exertions: spontaneous independent initiatives such as quixotic ecological projects, or the CzechTek techno party, whose participants are destined to become the "trade unionists” of the new age. Vachek’s film essay surprisingly contemplates its underlying concepts using visual motifs as well – via anecdotal comparisons, witty banter and cheerful snippets of poetry concerning truths the director himself finds "astonishing”.
147 min / Color, 35 mm
Director Karel Vachek
/ Screenplay Karel Vachek
/ Dir. of Photography Karel Slach
/ Music Milan Záviš Smrčka
/ Editor Renata Pařezová
/ Producer Radim Procházka
/ Production Produkce Radim Procházka
/ Cast Jaroslav Čejka, Ivan Dejmal, Stanislav Gross, Dana Kolářová a její pes Sydney / and her dog Sydney, Pavel Lukáš, Jakub Patočka, Petr Pilát, Jakub Procházka, David Rath, Milan Záviš Smrčka, Jaroslav Spurný
/ Contact Produkce Radim Procházka
/ Distributor Produkce Radim Procházka
Produkce Radim Procházka
Řehořova 54, 130 00, Praha 3
Czech Republic
E-mail: [email protected]
Radim Procházka
Film Director, Producer, Tutor / Trainer
Karel Vachek
Film Director
Renata Pařezová
Film Editor
Karel Slach
Director of Photography
Libor Sedláček
Film Crew
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