Sokol Spirit’s 3rd Friday - CZECH FILM SERIES

PRESENTING OUR EDUCATIONAL LINE-UP OF CZECH FILM CLASSES

(English Subtitles) on the 3^rd Friday of the Month.  The Czech films start at 7pm in our Czech classroom upstairs and with donation of $5 you get a free pilsner, pop, or water. Our Czech language instructor will be introducing you to all the film background and will be there to answer questions. This is our 11^th season!                                                                                                   

MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW!!!!!

2024

September 20 Summer with a Cowboy/ Léto s kovbojem; 1976; 90 Minutes; Color; Czech with English Subtitles; Rating: G. Based on a book and screenplay by novelist Jaromíra Kolárová (1919–2006). A romantic comedy, a young psychologist Doubravka swimming in a pool meets Honza who summers co-op cows nearby. Honza likes the racy girl at first sight and his directness imposes on Doubravka too. They started to date. Honza comes from a big family, he was degraded to a cowboy when he had a tractor accident caused by alcohol and lost his driving license.

October 18 Winter Flies/ Všechno bude; 2018; 81 Minutes; Color; Czech with English Subtitles; Rating: PG13. The rebellious fourteen-year-old Mara sets out behind the wheel of a stolen Audi with his eccentric friend Hedus.  Together they head out into the frozen wastelands of the Czech Republic in search of adventure.  When the police finally catch up with them, the mischievous breeziness of Mara’s story provides more questions than answers for the battled authorities.  Filled with directorial playfulness, Olmo Omerzu’s winter road movie about boyhood friendship and unexpected adolescent detours was the winner of four Czech Lion Awards.

November 15 My Sweet Little Village/ Vesnicko má stredisková; 1985; 100 Minutes; Color; Czech with English Subtitles; Rating: PG-some partial nudity. The movie's main storyline follows the life of Otík, a mentally retarded young man, in a tight-knit village community. The sweet-tempered Otík works as an assistant truck driver with Mr. Pávek, his older colleague and practical-minded neighbor. Pávek's family takes care of Otík, whose parents are dead. However, the two coworkers become at odds over Otík's inability to perform even the simplest tasks. Pávek demands that Otík be transferred to assist another driver, who happens to be a choleric and suspicious man named Turek (Turk in Czech). Rather than work with Turek, Otík decides to accept an offer of employment in Prague but finds he does not fit into the city life. After discovering that the transfer of Otík to Prague was a trick by a crooked politician to get a deal on Otík's large inherited house, Pávek agrees to give Otík a second chance and retrieves him from the city to resume their work together. The film also follows several subplots.  Film critic the late Roger Ebert stated that “Here is a movie in which every moment seems to be smiling at itself.”

2025

February 21 The Bartered Bride (opera)/ Prodaná nevěsta; 1981 TV Film; 137 Minutes; Color; Czech with English Subtitles; Rating: G. The Sold Fiancée is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The opera is considered to have made a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863–66, and first performed at the Provisional Theatre, Prague, on May 30, 1866 in a two-act format with spoken dialogue. Set in a country village and with realistic characters, it tells the story of how, after a late surprise revelation, true love prevails over the combined efforts of ambitious parents and a scheming marriage broker. The opera was not immediately successful and was revised and extended in the following four years. In its final version, premiered in 1870, it gained rapid popularity and eventually became a worldwide success.

March 21 Divided We Fall/ Musíme si pomáhat; 2000; 122 Minutes; Color; Czech with English subtitles; PG-13 Rating for some moderate profanity, a little violence, some mild sexual dialogue. The film opens in 1939 Czechoslovakia. Horst, a Czech-German Nazi collaborator married to a German woman, brings food to the invalid Josef and his wife Marie, who are Slavs. Josef hates the Nazis. When Josef finds David, who has escaped a concentration camp in Poland after first being sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in northern Bohemia, Josef and Marie decide to hide him in their apartment. Horst makes an unannounced visit, bringing presents as usual. Marie is ambivalent about their secret: On one hand she never misses an opportunity to blame her husband for bringing in the Jew, but on the other she is merciful and sympathetic with the poor kid locked in the closet day and night.

April 18 Ice Mother/ Bába z ledu Family drama, current times; 2018; 106 minutes; Color; Czech with English subtitles; PG-13 Nudity. Hana lives alone in a big villa with only weekly visits from her two belligerent sons and their families to look forward to. Complete with nagging and passive aggressive arguments between her children, these weekly dinners are a family tradition no one dares change. Hana continues to live alone and selflessly care for her family until one day, while on a stroll with her grandson, Ivanek, she happens to rescue Brona, an affable ice swimmer with a hen for a best friend, from drowning. This encounter invigorates Hana and introduces her to a new hobby as well as an unexpected romance.

May 16 I Enjoy the World With You/ S tebou mě baví svět; 1982; 82 minutes; Color; Czech with English subtitles; PG-13 Child nude bath scenes. Three middle-aged men go for a vacation into the mountains with their children. How will they cope with their youngsters’ everyday needs without their wives? It seems like a well-told story, but the way Director Polednakova approaches the subject is simply charming. It truly is one of the most original sit-coms. Every character has got all the ingredients of a common man you meet on the street. They are not just one-dimensional comic figures. Polednakova will introduce every one of them in an inobtrusive way through many hilarious scenes…you will love them with all their good and bad sides.

Sokol Spirit’s Education Committee reserves the right to change movies due to circumstances beyond their control.

DO NOT FORGET WORLD BEER CLUB

follows in the building’s lower level starting at 8pm!

Sokol Spirit is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organization.