Archive of films Záviš, the Prince of Pornofolk Under the Influence of Griffith’s Intolerance and Tati’s Mr. Hulot’s Holiday or The Foundation and Doom of Czechoslovakia (1918–1992) / Záviš, kníže pornofolku pod vlivem Griffithovy Intolerance a Tatiho Prázdnin pana Hulota aneb Vznik a zánik Československa (1918–1992)
Czech Republic
2006, 147 min
Section:
Tribute to Karel Vachek
Year: 2010
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”.
Synopsis
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”.
Contacts
Produkce Radim Procházka
Řehořova 54, 130 00, Praha 3
Czech Republic
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.radimprochazka.com
About the film
Color, 35 mm
Section: | Tribute to Karel Vachek |
---|---|
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 |
Guests
Radim Procházka
Film Director, Producer, Tutor / Trainer
Karel Vachek
Film Director
Renata Pařezová
Film Editor
Karel Slach
Director of Photography
Libor Sedláček
Film Crew