Záviš, the Prince of Pornofolk under the Influence of Griffith’s ‘Intolerance’ and Tati’s ‘Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday’ or the Foundation and the Doom of Czechoslovakia (1918-1992)

Colour, 35 mm
Czech Republic, 2006, 147 min
IP – International premiere
Section: Czech Films 2006-2007

Synopsis

How can a person seeking a valid existence accept responsibility for himself when he lives in a small Czech world controlled by consumerist thinking – particularly in view of the reassuring flood of media attractions? The tetralogy of documentary essays by Karel Vachek entitled The Little Capitalist reflected the twists and turns in the development of the Czech Republic after November 1989. The cultural, politico-economic, moral and geographical region of the Czechs is again the environment where Vachek chooses to expand his seriously light-hearted reflections – this time, in his own words, in the style of a divertimento. He visits an animal cemetery on Říp mountain and a cross-country motorcycle race held in a sports arena. His attention is also caught by a three-legged dog, David Wark Griffith, Jiří Paroubek and a female pensioner who raided a bank. The world according to Karel Vachek is also sprinkled with songs by distinctive folk artist Milan Smrčka, alias Záviš.

About the director

Karel Vachek (b. 1940, Tišnov, CR) is now handing down his distinctive approach to documentary filmmaking to his pupils: he has headed the documentary film department at FAMU since 2002, where he, himself, studied feature film direction during the years 1958–63. He took a critical view of folk festivals in Strážnice in Moravian Hellas (1964 – Honourable Mention at the KVIFF), after which he immediately became a “troublesome” banned director. He encountered similar disapproval with his feature-length documentary about the spring of 1968 Elective Affinities (1968 – Grand Prix at the documentary IFF in Karlovy Vary, two main prizes at the Oberhausen IFF). After five years of emigration he returned to his native country in the mid-1980s. In 1990 his work won the Golden Camera award in Berlin and, two years later, he embarked upon his loose tetralogy The Little Capitalist.