Martin Fric: The Master of Czech Comedy

[St. Gloede]

The illustrious M. Fric, with well over one hundred films to his name, and a career spanning 5 decades, is without a doubt one of the most notable comedy directors of all time.

Let's talk about him.



Martin Fric is arguably the closest the eastern block ever got to the sense and sensibilities of the classic Hollywood director (in the best sense of the word).

The film came running as if on an assembly line, often 4+ a year (during his prime), and we are still left with so much greatness.

Almost every major film he produced in the sound era was a comedy, typically slapstick, where confused identities, bizarre misunderstandings, stranger schemes and/or characters larger than life clash for 90 minutes.

His films are charming, well-crafted, hilarious and surprisingly diverse. He is not a flashy director, but as proven by Kristian he can pull off grandeur, including impressive long takes, while Hej-rup proves him to be able to enter extreme speed and create semi-surreal worlds akin to Rene Clair. At times he can remind you of Chaplin and the silent greats, at other times he may be closer to Hawks or Wyler.

Look at the differences between the films with his two most used leading men for instance: Vlasta Burian and Hugo Haas. It is almost night and day.

Personally I am not a major fan of his earliest talkies, the sound is a little off and in my opinion, he struggled a little. I also found that his films with Burian always fail to win me over completely, but this is exclusively a matter of taste I'm sure. It is also strange to see his transition from biting silents to full-on comedy, and his early work is particular is more silly than clever (though still very popular, see Anton Spelec for instance).

So far I have seen 25 of his films, and have found about half great, and essentially all good. What is your impression?

[wba]

I have only seen one of his films so far, but it was a mindblowing masterpiece: BEWARE! (1947)

Need to see more, obviously.

[brian d]

i’ve only seen the organist at st vitus's cathedral, which i seem to remember liking. seen a lot of czech films so he’s a name I’ve heard a lot, but i was under the impression i’d seem more. if you post recommendations i’ll watch them.

[greennui]

I watched and liked The Organist at St. Vitus' Cathedral yet oddly enough I can't seem to remember much about it.

[---]

i've seen BARON PASIL, it moved biebs

[St. Gloede]

I have only seen one of his films so far, but it was a mindblowing masterpiece: BEWARE! (1947)

Need to see more, obviously.

Oh yes, Beware! is great, though you really shouldn't expect any of his other films to be anything like it.

Essentially all his other (available) talkies are comedies, and honestly, until I saw it I would have said he somehow lost the touch for drama in the sound era (but that would have been on his version of Janosik alone - overdone to the point it came off as silly).

Ironically Beware! has the same main star (now as co-director) and it was also overdone - in a very different way. It is visually stunning in ways you never really see Fric films, except maybe Kristian or The Organist at St. Vitus's Cathedral (but this was a whole other level).

I was actually really fascinated here, as the visual language and tone reminded me of the Fascist/Nationalist expressions from Germany just before - the heroic portrait, the strength, the love of nation, etc. but handled in a different way (and the ending was not quite as expected). It is so direct, bold and expressionist in its tone and language that it feels like a smack in the face.

Fric's general work is far more practical cinematically, the wow factor is never really in his visuals - which makes sense given how many he would do in a year. Now, it could really be Bielik here, or the fact that "only" did 2 films in '47 as opposed to 4-5 - but it is shockingly different.

[St. Gloede]

i’ve only seen the organist at st vitus's cathedral, which i seem to remember liking. seen a lot of czech films so he’s a name I’ve heard a lot, but i was under the impression i’d seem more. if you post recommendations i’ll watch them.

For 3 very different films I would recommend:

Kristian (1939)
Hej-rup! / Heave-ho! (1934)
Varuj ...! / Beware! (1947)

The first an elegant and sexy slapstick comedy reminiscent of Lubitsch, the second a high tempo-bizarro satire of capitalism and the third a very visually expressive drama.

I'd also strongly recommend A Charming Man (1941), A Dog's Life (1933) The Blue Star Hotel (1941, The Respectable Women of Pardubice (1944) and his two school films (or two of them) School is the Foundation of Life (1938) and Journey into the Depth of the Student's Soul (1939). And for a short and sweet one his spy/detective parody Three Boiled Eggs (1937).

I have also noticed that there are so many opinions on Fric, for instance, I was just so-so on Baron Prasil, not to mention 4 of the 6 Fric films that made Golden Foundation of Czech and Slovak Cinema's Top 112 did not quite measure up (Kristian is the highest at #39, and Hej-rup is #60), namely:

#44 The Poacher's Foster Daughter or Noble Millionaire (1949)
#46 Anton Spelec, Sharp-Shooter (1932)
#61 Jánosik (1936)
#100 The Emperor and the Golem (1952)

So there is A LOT of films to discover here.

[wba]

I have only seen one of his films so far, but it was a mindblowing masterpiece: BEWARE! (1947)

Need to see more, obviously.

Oh yes, Beware! is great, though you really shouldn't expect any of his other films to be anything like it.

Essentially all his other (available) talkies are comedies, and honestly, until I saw it I would have said he somehow lost the touch for drama in the sound era (but that would have been on his version of Janosik alone - overdone to the point it came off as silly).

Ironically Beware! has the same main star (now as co-director) and it was also overdone - in a very different way. It is visually stunning in ways you never really see Fric films, except maybe Kristian or The Organist at St. Vitus's Cathedral (but this was a whole other level).

I was actually really fascinated here, as the visual language and tone reminded me of the Fascist/Nationalist expressions from Germany just before - the heroic portrait, the strength, the love of nation, etc. but handled in a different way (and the ending was not quite as expected). It is so direct, bold and expressionist in its tone and language that it feels like a smack in the face.

Fric's general work is far more practical cinematically, the wow factor is never really in his visuals - which makes sense given how many he would do in a year. Now, it could really be Bielik here, or the fact that "only" did 2 films in '47 as opposed to 4-5 - but it is shockingly different.

I've seen 5 films directed by Bielik, and though I also love his "Kapitán Dabač" (1959), I think the precision and timing of BEWARE! must be down to Fric's directing. Also the delicacy.
The Visuals are so gorgeous, though, they alone would probably already have made the film great.

[St. Gloede]

That's interesting and good to hear re: Fric.

Btw, how were you exposed to seek out Bielik films, and did you see Varuj ...! because of him? Not seen any of his other films yet myself, though I do have Wolves' Lairs.

[wba]

Btw, how were you exposed to seek out Bielik films, and did you see Varuj ...! because of him? Not seen any of his other films yet myself, though I do have Wolves' Lairs.

I had bought this DVD (along with roughly two dozen others released by the Slovak Film Institute) many years ago from Slovakian online retailers: http://www.klapka.sk/dvd/varuj
There were a lot of Bielik films among them, and after seeing VARUJ ...! I wanted to check out all other Bielik. I guess I should have checked out Fric instead.

EDIT: Here's a little Bielik overview as for some of the DVD releases: http://www.klapka.sk/products/search?ut ... BEo+Bielik

PS: On another note, I've also watched Dusan Hanak's Ružové sny (1976) on one of those fine DVD's and thought it completely average and forgettable. Last year I revisited it by chance at the cinema at a local eastern european film festival and was completely blown away, and it was probably the best film I have seen in 2019! How (first) impressions and preferences and taste can change...