Larks on a String (1969)

Set in the late 1940s, the film concerns the treatment of suspect "bourgeois elements", a professor, a saxophonist, and a milkman, who are put to work in a junkyard for rehabilitation.

Director:

Jirí Menzel

Writers:

Bohumil Hrabal (novel), Jirí Menzel

Stars:

Rudolf Hrusínský, Vlastimil Brodský, Václav Neckár

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rudolf Hrusínský	...	Trustee
Vlastimil Brodský	...	Professor
Václav Neckár	...	Pavel Hvezdár
Jitka Zelenohorská	...	Jitka
Jaroslav Satoranský	...	Guard Andel
Vladimír Smeral	...	Minister
Ferdinand Kruta	...	Kudla
Frantisek Rehák	...	Drobecek
Leos Sucharípa	...	Public prosecutor
Vladimír Ptácek	...	Mlíkar
Eugen Jegorov	...	Saxophonist (as Evzen Jegorov)
Nada Urbánková	...	Lenka
Vera Kresadlová	...	Convict
Vera Ferbasová	...	Convict
Jirina Stepnicková	...	Pavel's mother

Storyline

Prague in the early 1950's. Bourgeois elements are being re-educated by working in a scrapyard full of the detritus of industrial society. The volunteer workers comprise a professor of literature, a public prosecutor, a dairyman, a saxophonist, a barber, and a young cook. Also working in the yard are a number of female prisoners serving a year for trying to defect... A camera crew arrives with potted plants and other props. An idyllic scene is created; the prisoners star briefly in a pro-North Korean newsreel before going back to work... The volunteers are striking because the scrapyard work quotas have risen without consultation. A union rep arrives to persuade them otherwise... The guard for the female prisoners gets married but the gypsy musicians make a mess at his reception. The cook flirts with one of the pretty prisoners and finally proposes...

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | peeping | male bathing female | nudity | 1950s | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in 1969, the film was withheld by the censors and released only in 1990 after the fall of the Communist regime.

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Connections

References Monsieur Verdoux (1947)

User Reviews

Czech New Wave

Set in the late 1940s, the film concerns the treatment of suspect "bourgeois elements", a professor, a saxophonist, and a milkman, who are put to work in a junkyard for rehabilitation.

Director Jiri Menzel, a member of the Czech New Wave, became internationally famous in 1967, when his first feature film, "Closely Watched Trains", won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Then came "Larks", which was filmed in 1969, but not released until 1990! That is quite a feat.

Although interesting and a tad surreal, I have to wonder if the reception would have been different in 1969. Appropriately celebrated upon release in 1990, would it have had a bigger impact if it was out when the regime was still in charge?

Details

Country:

Czechoslovakia

Language:

Czech

Release Date:

February 1990 (Czechoslovakia)

Also Known As:

Larks on a Thread

Filming Locations:

Czech Republic

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,378

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmové studio Barrandov

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1