Year of the Devil (2002)
"Rok dábla" (original title)

Documentary maker Jan Holman follows the ultrafamous singer/songwriter Jaromír Novahica during his tour with the band Cechomor. The combination is very succesful, but it draws a heavy toll on the band members and Jan Holman.

Director:

Petr Zelenka

Writer:

Petr Zelenka

Stars:

Jaromír Nohavica, Karel Plíhal, Jan Prent

11 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jaromír Nohavica	...	Himself
Karel Plíhal	...	Himself
Jan Prent	...	Himself
Karel Holas	...	Himself
Frantisek Cerný	...	Himself
Radek Poboril	...	Himself
Michal Pavlík	...	Himself
Radek Klucka	...	Himself
Jaz Coleman	...	Himself
Jitka Obzinová	...	TV moderator
Eliska Klimesová	...	Asylum director
Danuse Klichová	...	Journalist #1
Sasa Mika	...	Transvestite #1
Václav Glazar	...	Transvestite #2
David Fotter	...	Doctor

Storyline

Jan Holman, a Dutch documentary maker, runs in a Czech alcohol clinic into Jaromír Nohavica, an ultrafamous singer/songwriter. Holman gets interested in Jaromír and follows him during his comeback. To help his former guitarist Karel Plíhal, who is unable to speak anymore, Nohavica decides to cooperate with the band Cechomor. The success is overwhelming, the combination attracts full houses. But soon the success draws a heavy toll on the band members and Jan Holman.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Music

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Details

Country:

Czech Republic

Language:

Czech English Dutch

Release Date:

7 March 2002 (Czech Republic)

Also Known As:

Year of the Devil

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cestmír Kopecký, Czech TV Brno, Falcon

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jaromír Nohavica spent most of the nineties in rehab for alcoholism.

User Reviews

Amazing, beautiful, captivating movie

This movie is one of the best I have seen this year. I am Czech, and so I don't know how much is lost in translation for American viewers, but the movie is simply amazing. All the musicians in the movie are essentially playing themselves, and Nohavica and Plihal's music is just wonderful. This film showcases the musical talents of two of Czech greats. Every child grows up singing Nohavica's songs, and Plihal continues to be one of the best songwriters alive. This movie documents Nohavica's alcoholism and subsequent rehabiliatory efforts, Plihal's emotional breakdown and year of not saying a single word, and the band Cechomor's efforts to make it big. One of the most evocative scenes of this movie is one where Nohavica and Plihal are supposed to play a concert together, but Plihal just can't bring himself to leave the car. He sits outside during the whole event, and Nohavica has to announce this to his audience. After the concert, people come out to see him and say hi to him in the car, where he is still sitting, and he is so overwhelmed by the attention that he starts spreading newspapers up into the car windows. When Nohavica finally comes out from the concert, he finds his car completely covered with newspaper from the inside. This is one of the many sad, evocative, touching and details-attentive scenes of this movie. Excellent, see it.