Karel Kachyňa

Directing

Karel Kachyňa

Born May 1, 1924 · Vyškov

Died March 12, 2004 · aged 79

Karel Kachyňa (1 May 1924 – 12 March 2004) was a Czech film director and screenwriter. His career spanned over five decades.

Known For

The EarThe Ear · 1990
The Ear
★ 7.31990
MovieMysteryDrama
Government bureaucrat Ludvik becomes suspicious after several colleagues disappear and he overhears something strange at a cocktail party. Returning home with his wife, Anna, he finds their house under surveillance and spends a fraught night worrying about his possible arrest in the morning. Marital difficulties come to light as Ludvik and his wife attempt to act normal in front of the cameras while dredging up their problems out of sight.
Dissolved and EffusedDissolved and Effused · 1985
Dissolved and Effused
★ 6.91985
MovieComedyCrime
A police inspector and inexperienced trainee search for a mysteriously disappeared manufacturer of ointments for hair growth.
The Last ButterflyThe Last Butterfly · 1991
The Last Butterfly
★ 5.81991
MovieDrama
Stage mime Antoine Moreau is compelled by the Gestapo to put on a performance for the children of Terezin, a "model" concentration camp, to convince the Red Cross observers that the camp is truly what it seems. Reluctant at first, Moreau slowly learns the true nature of the camp, including the meaning of the "transports" on which people leave. With a world-class orchestra (made up of people interned in the camp) and a cast of children, Moreau stages a show to end all shows.
The Little MermaidThe Little Mermaid · 1976
The Little Mermaid
★ 6.81976
MovieFantasyRomance
The little mermaid rescues a prince from drowning and falls in love with him. To be with him, she makes a deal with the evil sorceress: her beautiful voice against a life on land.
Dobré světloDobré světlo · 1986
Dobré světlo
★ 4.81986
MovieDrama
Viktor Průcha, a successful small-town architect, lives well but knows his comfort rests on compromises. When an elderly man—whose granddaughter was hurt at a school Viktor approved beside a busy road—attacks him and then takes his own life, Viktor abandons his home for a rural studio. There he rediscovers nude photography; his acclaimed exhibition forces him to confront past concessions and choose his future.
The Elementary SchoolThe Elementary School · 1991
The Elementary School
★ 7.31991
MovieComedyDrama
The time is 1945-46. 10 year old Eda and his friend Tonda live in a small village outside Prague. In school, their class is so wild and indisciplined that their teacher quits and is replaced by the militant Igor Hnidzo. He is very strict – but also very fair. His weakness though, is his interest in young women.
SufferingSuffering · 1962
Suffering
★ 6.31962
MovieRomanceFamily
This is an engaging drama by director Karel Kachyna about the growing pains of a young teen (Jorga Kotrbova) and the hardships of a noble steed mistreated by a cruel neighboring farmer. The teen is having a hard time figuring out adult modes of behavior, and at the same time her heart goes out to the horse that is suffering under the treatment of the farmer next door to her family. As the teen adopts the horse as a friend, some clarification will be sure to come on the meaning of adulthood and the benefits of compassion.
The CowThe Cow · 1996
The Cow
★ 6.21996
MovieDrama
Adam is a young farmer. As a child, fleeing the bleak reality of his mother's life as a prostitute, he tumbled from a mountain and was mentally injured. Years later, his mother is dying, so Adam sells their only cow to pay for medicine. Rosa, a beautiful young maid, fleeing the sexual exploitation of a wealthy butcher, climbs up to join them on their remote farm and dares to become part of Adam's world. A cycle of life begins again, in a remote turn-of-the-century village tied to the land and its animals.

Filmography

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Sugar HouseSugar House · 1981
Sugar House
★ 7.01981
MovieDramaWar
In the final days of the Second World War in 1945 Frantisek Pribyl is killed during a shoot-out with the Germans. After the funeral, the widow (Jana Svandová) and her two young sons Martin and Ondra move to her deceased husband's native village at the foot of the Kralický Snezník mountains. Life in the borderlands is far from easy for the lonely woman. The village is almost deserted, food supplies are delayed; the Werwolf (Nazi guerrilla squads) are hiding in the mountains, and shooting is heard from time to time. The elder son Ondra (Michal Dlouhý) is helping out his mother and at the same time absorbing intense new experiences. He meets an old Czech resident Skurek (Lubomír Kostelka), German women working in the forest, soldiers from the engineering units removing the mines, and a young first lieutenant. At night he dreams about his dead father whom he loved very much. This is why he runs away from home when he finds out that the lieutenant is courting his mother.

Screenplay

Cesta byla suchá, místy mokráCesta byla suchá, místy mokrá · 2003
Cesta byla suchá, místy mokrá
★ 10.02003
MovieDramaComedy
The film reflects on how to live life to the fullest and why the journey of life is not always smooth sailing, but rather accompanied by setbacks, uncertainty, obstacles, and failures, and why it is often painful and difficult. Zborník, Hanka, and Eda, this strange trio, seemingly disparate in age and character, experience a series of vicissitudes and crises over the course of a few days, both comical and quite dramatic, in order to come to the realization, each in their own way, that life is not a walk in the park, nor a well-trodden dry path, but that every act of recklessness, stupidity, irresponsibility, or betrayal must be paid for dearly. An intimate story about a steamroller, but more about a trio of strange people who, thanks to this machine, experience several extraordinary days together.

Director