On Thursday, I will be uploading Foreign Chops: Czech Republic to The LAMB. We have a good number of submissions, but could get a lot more pretty easily. I did a little digging around and found a number of Czech films that can be viewed on streaming services for a quick write-up before the deadline tomorrow, 1 May, at midnight. On Netflix:
- Alice, dir. Jan Svankmajer: a reimagining of Alice in Wonderland with haunting stop motion animation and puppetry.
- Kolya, dir. Jan Sverak: 1996's Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film about a cellist in Soviet Czechoslovakia caring for a Russian boy.
- Howling with the Angels, dir. Jean Bodon: a documentary short about Bodon's father's experience in the Czechoslovakian Resistance movement during World War II.
- Alois Nebel, dir. Tomás Lunák: a black and white rotoscoped film about a train dispatcher near the end of the Cold War.
- The Country Teacher, dir. Bohdan Sláma: a male teacher, fresh out of a relationship with another man, becomes friends with a widow who is looking for romance.
- Protektor, dir. Marek Najbrt: a radio host attempts to protect his Jewish wife when the Nazis invade Prague during WWII.
- Goat Story, dir. Jan Tománek: an animated film about a boy in middle ages who falls in love with a beggar girl, setting his goat friend into a fit of jealousy.
On Hulu Plus:
- A Report on the Party and Guests, dir. Jan Nemec: picnickers are forced to attend a dinner party thrown by a sadist.
- Return of the Prodigal Son, dir. Evald Schorm: an architect attempts to recuperate in a psychiatric hospital after a failed and unmotivated suicide attempt.
- Closely Watched Trains, dir. Jirí Menzel: a dispatcher in occupied Czechoslovakia obsesses over trying to lose his virginity as the war rages on around him.
- Courage for Every Day, dir. Evald Schorm: a communist questions his beliefs as politics shift and his friends don't live up to the same beliefs.
- All My Good Countrymen, dir. Vojtech Jasný: citizens in a small Czech village try to claim freedom for themselves after WWII, but face opposition from the communists.
- Pearls of the Deep, dir. Vera Chytilová, Jaromil Jires, Jirí Menzel, Jan Nemec, Evald Schorm: an anthology of five short films celebrating the Czech New Wave.
- Daisies, dir. Vera Chytilová: two young women named Marie try to find their place in the world together in dangerous ways.
- Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, dir. Jaromil Jires: a fantasy exploration of love, fear, sex, and religion through the lens of fairy tales and folklore.
- Capricious Summer, dir. Jirí Menzel: three middle-aged friends become obsessed with a tightrope walker's assistant one summer.
- The Ear, dir. Karel Kachyna: a government official discovers his house is bugged after a massive series of layoffs at the office.
- The Cremator, dir. Juraj Herz: a horror film about a Czech cremator who begins to take advice from an old war buddy about embracing his German heritage.
- The Junk Shop, dir. Juraj Herz: a short film about a man working in a junk shop.
- The Joke, dir. Jaromil Jires: a revenge drama about a man taking revenge on the man who got him booted from school and the communist party.
I apologize for getting this post up so late in the Foreign Chops' cycle. The idea of rounding up possible streaming titles only just occurred to me today. Future posts will be up weeks before the deadline.
If you're a member of The LAMB, you can submit up to 5 posts about films from the Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia. That’s 5 total per site, not 5 per author per site. They can be new or old reviews, features, or retrospectives so long as they focus on Czech films. Send the links to me at robertjgannon@gmail.com by Midnight EST on 1 May. Include “Foreign Chops” in the subject line of your e-mail. I will send you a confirmation if I receive your message, so don’t be afraid to message me again if you haven’t heard back from me.