Zítra vstanu a oparím se cajem

This film is funny and warm and intelligent and slightly haunting, and I am delighted to recommend it. It was shown on BBC2 (UK) in a foreign film season (the Beeb used to have things like that before the dumbed-down era), maybe in the late 70s or early '80s. I never forgot it - and I have, over the years, kept coming across other people who had seen and not forgotten it, although no-one could ever quite remember its title. As far as I am aware, it's not been on TV again. Fingers crossed I'll get to see it again sometime...

This is a film I saw just once on BBC2 on a Saturday night. In order not to watch Dallas I thought I'd watch the first half hour of the film and then turn over for Match of the Day. MotD never got a look in. The film had me laughing from the word go and made such an impression on my mind that I could still vividly remember scenes from it over a quarter of a century later. Today I received the DVD from a shop in the Czech Repbulic and am astounded at how well I remember the film. The plot centres around the plan by a group of former Nazis to travel back in time and give Hitler a hydrogen bomb and the attempt of the pilot to stop them. He is actually the twin brother of the pilot who should have been taking them but who had died choking on a bread roll. The immobilising spray and the washing up liquid were just as I remembered them. The American tourists were hammed up for all they were worth (it was made under communist rule after all). This is a very funny film and well worth the effort of ordering it from a website in a language I don't read.

One morning, Jan Bures (or is it Karel Bures? I forgot which is which :) discovers that his twin brother Karel (Jan?) has choked to death on a bread roll. However, Jan knows what to do - Karel was a pilot for Universum, a time travel agency. So he dresses up as his brother and goes to his brother's job. He soon discovers that his brother was part of a Nazi ploy to hijack a time travel rocket, go to 1944 (when Germany is in trouble) and give Adolf Hitler an A-bomb. Although he can do little to prevent this, the ploy fails - firstly, the hijackers are double-booked with two American tourists, and secondly, they land in 1941 - when German soldiers are threatening to conquer Moscow. When they return, they return before they actually took off (this is Jan's attempt to save his brother by preventing him from suffocating). And things go downhill from there...

Firstly, this is a very original take on the topic of time travel. Secondly, Petr Kostka does a great job in this double-role (which is in fact more of a single role after all). The effects and styling appear naive now, but they're good for their time and place. (The Universum scenes were mostly filmed in the then-new Prague subway.) Finally, the writers and director must be commended for not getting lost in the screenplay and for not letting us get lost or bored - there's always something going on and if you're willing to believe that time travel was possible in the 1970s as demonstrated in the film, there are few (if any) plot holes or inconsistencies. Music doesn't play much of a role here.

The near-obligatory compromises to Communism (this was the 1970s, y'know) are present, but in a way that just makes it even more entertaining - the aforementioned American tourists react to the sight of Hitler in the flesh by demanding to take photographs with him, much to the Führer's frustration (the guy who played him was great too). Can't really think of any other examples right now.

If you like this film, an obvious recommendation would be Zabil jsem Einsteina, pánové (I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen), but I found Zítra vstanu a oparím se cajem more entertaining.

I remember watching this film screened on BBC2 late one evening in 1981 or was it 1980? I know the BBC still have rights to screen it, so if we're lucky we could press them into screening it on BBC4.

It's a great film, with an even better take on the whole Sci-Fi 'time travel' genre. Back To The Future, Time Cop and all other time travel flicks pale into insignificance when compared to this offering... I'm sure Speilberg has seen this.

I'm no Sci-Fi nut but when you consider this film was made in 1977 the screenplay must've been knocking around for a fair while before that, it's a great tribute to good writing. But what am I saying? I was all of 13 years-old when me and my brothers Robbie and Alan stayed up late to watch this on our old Indersit B/W telly. I only just remember it, but I know good movies and good tales when I see/hear them... and I've never forgotten this one.

There's a Ray Bradbury story called 'A Sound Of Thunder' which looks at the consequences of time travel and messing and altering time lines... hey I could go on forever about this.

I'd pay money to this film again - with or without subtitles, on video or DVD. But if anyone wants to help me badger the controller of BBC4 into screening it or releasing it on vid ( I'm not sure that they can) let's do it before some studio exec finds it and re-makes it and spoils the memory like always.

Arrrggghhhh! I want to see this film again.

I understand it was Saturday 16th January 1982 when I first saw this film. Dallas was on BBC 1 and Match of the Day wouldn't start for another half hour or so. So my brother and I decided to watch the beginning of this film on BBC 2 and then turn over for the football. Except we watched the whole thing. It really was that good.

Fast forward to 2006 and I finally got a copy of the DVD in my grubby mitts. I had to get it from the Czech Republic but it's PAL and the same region as the UK. I watched it and couldn't believe just how much I remembered from over twenty years previously.

Petr Koska is brilliant in his three roles: Jan Bures, Karel Bures and Jan pretending to be Karel. In this third role he improves his performance to the other characters as the film goes on because he has figured out how the plot should take shape after nearly mucking things up somewhat the first time round.

For me, getting the DVD has been a delightful piece of nostalgia!