Haphazard travels of Sirman Deville around the Middle

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2009 poll highlighs:

COOKING HISTORY (Péter Kerekes)

nice doc. nice blend of the cute caprice with the occasional oh my god these people are bastards sketches. "a pinch of salt"

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včely letěly krásně - karel čtveráček (2009)

another depressing doc this time about the restoration of a photography studio existing in one of the german parts of czechia, beginning to think cameras can only capture sad things, or maybe the presence of the equipment itself introduces something damned into history, i don't think 1946 is gonna be that much more cheerful either altho i have spied a vittorio de sica (acting) comedy so all hopes on that

[niminy-piminy]

ha, i didn't watch anything by Karel yet.
"včely letěly krásně" looks interesting!

and i see that Karel made (in 2005) a doc about Jindřich Vik (1899-1980), an art brut artist whose exhibition i visited in 2011.
the exhibition had the same title as the doc, i.e. "A Man, Who Painted the Sea".
Jindřich (who never ever traveled abroad) was obsessing about the sea (as you can see ↓↓↓ ).

The Sea at Scotland


The Sea at Genoa


The Sea at the Holland Coast


The Sea at Crete


etc., etc., etc., etc. (he portrayed like this almost each and every sea in the world).

tho, he occasionally painted also some other subjects.
f.e. "The Virgin Mary with Dead Jesus"


"Hell"


Death is Coming


Painting Gutters


or "Clouds and Rain"

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those seas! (and gutters) ♥

i don't know if lately it's my berserk consumption of dafilms with their strong representation of czech angles/angels, or a certain delightful concentration of same on here, or both, but it seems that there really is something magic fairyland in czech mentality/culture that sets it apart from surrounding regions. it's so strange.

am still horribly haunted by the very real young man in the first part of souboj s mozkem, the one who cries sally, looking like a czech jean-pierre leaud half-existing in cinema-dreams...

ok am gonna go outside now and yell at non-magical english sheep

[niminy-piminy]

1946 poll:

They Are Personally Responsible for Treason of the National Uprising! (Ján Kadár, 1946, 7m)
They Are Personally Responsible for Crimes Against Humanity! (Ján Kadár, 1946, 6m)

both are framed as a sort of "educational films" but (as is the case with most "educational films") there is hardly anything to be "learned" from them (due to excessive schematism — necessary in creating a "public relations" content).

1/ first is focused on the crushed Slovak National Uprising → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_National_Uprising
2/ the other highlights clero-fascism of then Slovak state because the head of the collaborant regime was a Catholic priest Josef Tiso → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jozef_Tiso

Josef Tiso was executed in 1947 (for war crimes and crimes against humanity), so i expect these two films were part of the indictment/charge (tho not submitted to the court but to a post-war local mass media).

both of these shorts are mainly "remarkable" due to the name of the (later Oscar-winning) director → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shop_on_Main_Street

[niminy-piminy]

two most significant contributions to the nazi resistance discourse on the local (middle of the Middle) screen in 1946. ↓↓

1/
based on the then urban legend.
the last resort of the oppressed people — delusions about the superheroes!

SPRINGMAN AND THE SS (Jiří Brdečka, Jiří Trnka, 1946)
also called THE CHIMNEY SWEEP

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6tmg7n

2/
REVOLUTION IN TOYLAND (František Sádek, Hermína Týrlová, 1946)

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6tmeuu

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yay i was wondering if there was any týrlová

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someone is stalking this site at least

https://twitter.com/FolkloreFilmFes/sta ... 0799729670

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the axiliad / siekierezada - witold leszczyński (1986)

not usually a fan of these existential young man things and the ending was too much, but the getting there was enjoyable, even had a dance in a hall like a polish kaurismaki

[niminy-piminy]

btw. BEWARE OF PITY is molded (by its trivia) extremely "Central European".

1/ Baron with a Hungarian name "Kekesfalva" lives (for some strange reason) in a "Bohemian Castle".
2/ and the "Bad Lieutenant" travels to the Bohemian city of Čáslav which is (for some strange reason) spelled (in subs) Polish as Czeslaw.
→ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8C%C3%A1slav

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let's just call it whatever!

[niminy-piminy]

The local name "Čáslav" is most likely derived from the personal name "Čáslav" (i.e. from the person to whom the village and its surroundings belonged). The name "Čáslav" probably originated from the word "časlat", which means "to wait/await" (archaic). Thus it can be inferred that the inhabitants of Čáslav were/are waiting for something. Maybe waiting for a new & new & new (mis)spelling of their locale?!

[niminy-piminy]

maybe the political thread would be a better place for this flick of the falling apple today???

1984 poll:
GRAVITY (Ferenc Rófusz)

https://youtu.be/cIfPehG_Fqg

[niminy-piminy]

1995 poll:
THE MOLE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY (Zdeněk Miler)
→ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307071/

The little mole is baking cookies. His unsuspecting friends see smoke coming from the molehill and try to put out the fire.

https://youtu.be/-7nCF5xbu_M

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boredom in brno - vladimír morávek (2003)



brno is charming!
1919 travelogue: https://www.europeanfilmgateway.eu/deta ... 6c8bfbbd96

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the yellow slippers - sylwester chęciński (1961)

never seen this mentioned but this is another one of those medieval films (here a children's movie) with fake sets (after medieval art....all bright nonsensical colours)

can't grab screencaps from the 35mm.online site anymore so have to make do with theirs that don't do it justice

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czechoslovakia (1947)

https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/wat ... 947-online




this is very much a not-subtle watch-out-for-those-russians, fuck-you-nazis, piss-off-sudeten-germans-byeeeee, yay-america kind of report....

with an appearance from "national mystic" (cf. karel vachek) edvard beneš



and most bizarrely, a builder who is shirtless but for a bow-tie, maybe it's a national costume