One Hand Can´t Clap

Colour, 35 mm
Czech Republic, 2003, 102 min
Section: Czech Films

About the film

Following the generation gap films Whisper and Loners, director David Ondříček has made a black comedy. A film with many coincidences and plenty of twists, a crime-story plot verging on the detective genre that sparkles with absurd dialogue, shocking gags, and subtle jokes. The plot throws together a notorious loser named Standa who has just come out of prison, and another loser, Ondra, recently thrown out of a security agency. From now on their misfortunes multiply. The eccentric Zdeněk, Standa’s former boss (who owes him a lot of money), is a successful businessman – the owner of The Magic Garden, a prospering vegetarian restaurant. He is the husband of a no less eccentric, ecologically-minded wife, and the father of two strange offspring. Everything goes well until he meets the aforementioned duo of losers, who have set their hearts on ferreting out the secret of his restaurant’s gourmet club – an eatery serving very peculiar delicacies… 

About the director

David Ondříček (b. 1969, Prague) is the son of cameraman Miroslav Ondříček. He began as a child actor, then in 1987–1992 studied in the department of documentary film at Prague’s Film Academy (FAMU). After completing his studies he began directing, co-authoring film scripts, and from 1999, when he founded his own production company Lucky Man Films, also working as a producer. Filmography: a school documentary about the Dalai Lama of Tibet Om… (1990); a portrait of an artist Theodor Pištěk (1991); the musical documentary Lucie Tour 90 (1990); the TV programme Prouza and Priessnitz (1992); a musical documentary Mystic Skate Cup. He made his feature film debut with the soberly conceived love story from the life of Prague youth Whisper (1996). This was followed by the bitter comedy Loners (2000), which won 10 Czech Lion nominations and was shown successfully at many festivals (the Audience Award at the IFFs in Warsaw and Salonica, the FIPRESCI Award at the IFF in Mannheim). The black comedy One Hand Can’t Clap is his third feature film and received two Czech Lions in 2003: Best Music (Jan P. Muchow) and Best Supporting Actor (Ivan Trojan).