We’re wrapping up Czechtember 2021 with a look at Jiri Menzel’s Capricious Summer. Released in 1968, it’s based on a book by Vladislav Vancura and tells the story of three men on holiday who spend most of their time philosophizing and avoiding one woman while trying to woo another and getting nowhere.
Kat Ellinger and Jonathan Owen join Mike to discuss the film.
Special Guests: Jiri Menzel, Peter Hames Guest Co-Hosts: Jonathan Owen, Samm Deighan
We kick off the first annual "Czechtember" with a look at the most-easily accessible films of the Czech New Wave, the charmingly disarming 1966 film Closely Watched Trains (AKA Ostre Sledované Vlaky or Closely Observed Trains). Co-written and directed by Jirí Menzel and based upon Bohumil Hrabal's novella, the film stars Václav Neckár as Milos Hrma, a young man from a family of eccentrics. Not wanting to work too hard, he gets a job at the local railway station where he's mentored by the earthly Hubicka (Josef Somr) and Nazi-sympathizer Zednicek (Vlastimil Brodský).
Interviews:
Peter Hames, author of The Czechoslovak New Wave: 1:28:00 Music: "Train Round The Bend" - The Velvet Underground
Jiri Menzel, director of Closely Watched Trains: 1:43:00 Music: "Down There By The Train" - Tom Waits
Guest Co-Hosts: Jonathan Owen, Kat Ellinger
Special Guests: