A Place in the Crowd

A tragicomedy set in a village where it depicts a diverse assemblage of old geezers spending the autumn of their lives in different ways. Some are amused by watching cars speeding around an obscure bend, but one agonises over both humiliating poverty (his pension is barely enough to buy the most basic food) and the rude behaviour of those closest to him.

In the pulmonary sanatorium, patients live out their small fates. But not everyone takes a responsible approach to their illness. For example, a young student falls in love, the lovers even take a secret flight, but the young man's condition deteriorates dramatically because of it.

Three stories from the school environment, mostly from the perspective of teachers. In the first story we see an unnecessarily strict teacher, in the middle one a sports career is glossed over, which causes a young teacher to leave his job. In the final story, on the other hand, an experienced high school teacher goes to teach in a rural school to gain inner peace.

Vladimír Olmer is a student at the Faculty of Medicine. His father, a famous Prague surgeon, is rightly proud of him. One day, Vladimír accidentally meets his former classmate Emil Prokeš. He introduces him to his frivolous friends, who only care about how to earn money for an idle life without any effort. The trusting Vladimír takes a liking to his new friends, especially when the beautiful Helena shows interest in him. Soon, parties with alcohol are more important to Vladimír than his studies. Mirek, his only real friend, warns him in vain. His frivolous life ends with a fateful party at which Emil is shot. The case cannot be covered up, the security services get involved, and Vladimír is expelled from the faculty for a year.

At the beginning of normalisation in the 1970s, the appearance of ideologically tinged stories intensified, but there were also attempts to create unpretentious entertainment, cut almost according to First Republic models. This film develops the confusion surrounding the preparations for the celebration of a golden wedding between a retired miner and his wife... Director Jaroslav Mach relies on situational comedy stemming from misunderstandings and confusions, as well as verbal banter, based on the constant banter between the celebrants.

The drama from the time of the Nazi occupation begins at the train station, where a transport with German soldiers is passing. The train is stopped due to improvised sabotage by one of the railway workers. Resistance liaison Růžena Kubínová is arrested in a random raid. The cynical councilor Dönnert discovers her false documents and has her brutally interrogated. He suspects that she could contribute to exposing the entire group. He puts a informant, Herta, in her cell.

At the beginning of the Second World War, Czech music student Honsik comes to Germany from Prague to join a "foreign worker company". After rescuing a boy from the rubble of a bombed-out house, he himself is seriously injured and taken to a hospital in Stralsund. There he is regarded as a second-class citizen and the Germans are preferred to him. Nurse Käthe stands up for him, cares for him and defies all prohibitions. A love affair is kindled between the two, but it is not under a good star. Honsik tries to flee to his homeland with his comrades and Käthe supports him. At the last moment, however, Honsik realizes that his love for Käthe is stronger than his homesickness and makes his way back. Once back home, he can only watch as Käthe is arrested by the Gestapo. With the help of a resistance fighter, the young man from Prague manages to escape after all.

Several of the works of writer Bohumil Říha have been filmed. This novel by the pro-regime writer also inspired a children’s film, which was directed in 1981 by the experienced family filmmaker Václav Gajer. The story takes place in 1947 and it is based on the popular model of the relationship between a human hero and an indomitable animal protagonist. The tale of the freedom necessary for life, is, of course, beholden to the standards of the time: the Hucul horse that heals an old villager, has remained in the small village in Šumava after the Soviet soldiers have left. This is a pleasing movie that engages with the acting performance of Zdeněk Řehoř and the depiction of the indisputable beauty of the Šumava landscape as shot by cameraman Jan Němeček.

Third part of the trilogy. Vaska again is visiting his grandfather living in Bohemian Forest and understands the importance of guarding nature.

Second part of the trilogy. Vasek is expected to go to Bulgaria for a holiday with his parents during the summer vacation, but the boy finds the prospect of spending the summer with his gamekeeper grandfather far more tempting than the seaside. On the last day of school Vasek picks up his final report, but after that he takes his already packed bag and sets off for the Bohemian Forest without telling his parents. The grandfather is happy to have his grandson at his side again. In the evening, he gets a phone call from Vasek's mother. The trip to Bulgaria has been postponed and Vasek can stay with his grandfather for the time being.

The gamekeeper Straka lives by himself in the Bohemian forest hill. He has quarreled with his only son. He cannot come to terms with the fact that his son has abandoned his beloved forests and settled in a town. He has never even met his grandson Vasek. Following an illness, however, little Vasek needs some country air, and so one day his mother Jarmila delivers him to her father-in-law's cottage. At first Straka is angry, but Vasek is an unaffected lad and throws himself with verve into all the little adventures that the forest provides.

In May 1945, a woman in Marienbad reports a murder - committed in 1933 against the German emigrant Professor Lessing. She also names the murderer. Against the wishes of his superior, who does not feel responsible for this case - it was a fascist femicide - Inspector Šedý picks up the trail and arrests the murderer, the German Eckert. Eckert was a fugitive at the trial in 1933, and now the evidence is no longer available. Nevertheless, Šedý does everything he can to convict him. He finds witnesses who support him - anti-fascists, but also former collaborators who want to clear themselves. Reconstructing the case at the crime scene, Šedý is able to prove that Eckert was at least an accessory. He is convicted. After his release from prison, Eckert goes to West Germany, where he demands compensation from his former clients.

An attempted theft of a rare antique is uncovered at a castle that houses an apprentice recreation center. The apprentices help uncover the real perpetrators and their accomplices.

In late 19th century Czech-speaking Bohemia, oppressed workers at German-owned mines and foundries revolt against their harsh working conditions. Made shortly after World War II as Czechoslovakia was falling to communism, the film resonates in Czech resentment of the German occupation.

An ambitious and selfish lawyer confesses to the murder of his first wife. Some of the scenes were filmed in the last weeks of the war.

Seventeen-year-old student Milan wants to get rid of his morbid fear of flies, which originated sometime in his childhood. Only then will he feel mature and responsible for himself and his actions...