Vrchní, prchni!

Saw this on Amazon Prime. I like to watch subtitled films especially the older ones. You can find some gems out there and this is one of them. It gets off to a slightly puzzling start but the subtle development of the plot is delightful and carries on with surprises along the way and gathers pace with a joyful momentum leading to the climax. Really great. Reading up on the cast is very interesting, they are obviously seasoned performers judging by their filmography which is no doubt why the film is so good. Bit of nudity in the film but it's all justified by the plot and tastefully done in the context of its time.

This movie is written by Zdenek Sverák, the author of Kolya, and beautifully directed by Ladislav Smoljak (Sverák's partner in theater for many years). It is one of the very best Czech movies - it is inspired by slapstick comedies (note the "Keystone waiters" at the end of the movie) and full of great comic situations and brilliant dialogues ("I wish a love story" "To read through or to live through?" /// "Where did you use to sit?" "In front of the class." "In the first row?" "More ahead" "But there's only the teacher's table there" "Well, that's were I used to sit." "Oh... Mr. professor... I didn't recognize you!") I hope you understand the gracefulness of these dialogues from my translation.

I have no doubt - this movie is more amusing, more entertaining and more humorous than Sverak's Kolya.

First I would like to say it's a comedy for sure. But I would also add the genre crime to the movie.

In this movie there's a guy playing a fake waiter. That's not his only crime though. But the other crime is more in a moral way. But i'm not gonna spoil for you what that is. But basically these two "crimes" play a mayor part in this movie.

If you have a chance to see it be sure to grasp that chance. It's not a superb comedy, but a nice little comedy. There are enough jokes to keep you amused during the movie.

Greetings from the Netherlands.

Like one of the previous reviewers, I was lucky enough to catch this gem of a film on a coach trip to Prague when I was living in the Czech Republic. It was the first Czech film I saw, and is still my favourite. Of course anyone who didn't grow up under communism will miss a lot of the humour and references, but generally speaking it has a wide-ranging appeal, and the convoluted situations are really funny at times, especially the incidents with his neighbour. The music is good too - mostly man-and-a-guitar type songs. I wish it were possible to find this in Britain, but foreign language films are a tiny market here, especially obscure communist-era East European films... Overall though, this is thoroughly recommended and if you're ever in Czech on a yellow Student Agency coach make sure they show this!

I saw this movie on a trip to Prague several years ago. I missed the title and so have been looking for it ever since. Since there were subtitles in English at that time, it is possible that it may turn up again on DVD. I am delighted to at last know what it is called in English.