7.8/10
13,192
65 user 64 critic

Kolya (1996)

Kolja (original title)
PG-13 | | Comedy, Drama, Music | 24 January 1997 (USA)
Kolya Poster
Trailer
1:20 | Trailer

On Disc

at Amazon

Franta Louka is a concert cellist in Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia, a confirmed bachelor and a lady's man. Having lost his place in the state orchestra, he must make ends meet by playing ... See full summary »

Director:

Writers:

(story), (screenplay)

Stars:

, , | See full cast & crew »
Reviews
Won 1 Oscar. Another 20 wins & 13 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

See all 1 video  »

Photos

See all 44 photos »
Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 













◄ Prev 6 Next 6 ►

Next »
Vratné lahve (2007)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

A comic love story about a man who refuses to accept that old age is empty of love, meaning and value to society.

Director: Jan Sverák
Stars: Zdenek Sverák, Daniela Kolárová, Pavel Landovský
Next »
Pelísky (1999)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X  

Two families, Sebkovi and Krausovi, are celebrating christmas, but not everyone is in a good mood. Teenage kids think their fathers are totaly stupid, fathers are sure their children are ... See full summary »

Director: Jan Hrebejk
Stars: Michael Beran, Miroslav Donutil, Simona Stasová
Next »
Marecku, podejte mi pero! (1976)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.3/10 X  

Older group of workers are forced to attend the high school and finish it.

Director: Oldrich Lipský
Stars: Jirí Sovák, Václav Lohniský, Iva Janzurová
Next »
Dark Blue World (2001)
War | Drama | Action
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

The friendship of two men becomes tested when they both fall for the same woman.

Director: Jan Sverák
Stars: Ondrej Vetchý, Krystof Hádek, Tara Fitzgerald
Next »
Po strnisti bos (2017)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Story of a small boy is forced to move out of Prague during World War 2 to a small village of Slavonice where he meets the rest of his family. He needs to make new friends and get used to a... See full summary »

Director: Jan Sverák
Stars: Jan Tríska, Oldrich Kaiser, Tereza Voriskova
Next »
Jára Cimrman lezící, spící (1983)
Biography | Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

Czech comedy film about the fictional national hero Jára Cimrman (universal genius, inventor, sportsman, criminologist, poet, writer and philosopher).

Director: Ladislav Smoljak
Stars: Zdenek Sverák, Valérie Kaplanová, Petr Cepek
Next »
Vesnicko má stredisková (1985)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

Comedy about the people who inhabit a small town. For years the overbearing Pavek has endured Otik, the "town idiot," sharing his meals and the front seat of their dump truck. But Otik is ... See full summary »

Director: Jirí Menzel
Stars: János Bán, Marián Labuda, Rudolf Hrusínský
Next »
There Was Once a King... (1955)
Comedy | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

A selfish self-centered widowed ruler, barely tolerated by his subjects and called appropriately enough, 'King Myself, First' asks his three daughters to name the measure of their love for ... See full summary »

Director: Borivoj Zeman
Stars: Jan Werich, Vlasta Burian, Irena Kacírková
Next »
Joachim, Put It in the Machine (1974)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

A sincere provincial young man, Frantisek Koudelka (Ludek Sobota) leaves to work in Prague. For the trip he buys a computer made horoscope with biorhythms charts, marked according to his ... See full summary »

Director: Oldrich Lipský
Stars: Ludek Sobota, Marta Vancurová, Vera Ferbasová
Next »
Karakter (1997)
Crime | Drama | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

Jacob Katadreuffe lives mute with his mother, has no contact with his father who only works against him and wants to become a lawyer, at all costs.

Director: Mike van Diem
Stars: Pavlik Jansen op de Haar, Jan Decleir, Fedja van Huêt
Next »
Akumulátor 1 (1994)
Comedy | Fantasy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

In this movie, TV sets are full of life. If a person is in TV (e.g. because it was filmed on the street) it has a double that's right in the TV set. This double needs energy from the true ... See full summary »

Director: Jan Sverák
Stars: Petr Forman, Edita Brychta, Zdenek Sverák
Next »
Run, Waiter, Run! (1981)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

A comedy concerning a down on his luck bookshop owner with a penchant for women who decides to make some money by pretending to be a waiter and collecting cash from unsuspecting diners.

Director: Ladislav Smoljak
Stars: Josef Abrhám, Libuse Safránková, Daniela Bakerová
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
... Louka
... Kolja (as Andrej Chalimon)
... Klára
... Broz
... Mother
... Houdek
... Nadezda (as Irina Livanova)
... Blanka
... Tamara (as Lilian Malkina)
... Musil
... Pasa
... Brozová (as Nella Boudová)
René Pribil ... Pokorný
... Novotný
... Bustiková
See full cast »
Edit

Storyline

Franta Louka is a concert cellist in Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia, a confirmed bachelor and a lady's man. Having lost his place in the state orchestra, he must make ends meet by playing at funerals and painting tombstones. But he has run up a large debt, and when his friend, the grave-digger Mr. Broz, suggests a scheme for making a lot of money by marrying a Russian woman so that she can get her Czech papers, he reluctantly agrees. She takes advantage of the situation to emigrate to West Germany, to her lover; and leaves her five-year-old son with his grandmother; when the grandmother dies, Kolya must come and live with his stepfather - Louka. Written by Gary Dickerson <slug@mail.utexas.edu>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

adult child bonding | movie theatre | watching a movie | demonstration | orchestra | See All (224) »

Taglines:

The perfect grouch has met his match. A five-year-old boy named Kolya.

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

Official site | Official site

Country:

| |

Language:

| |

Release Date:

24 January 1997 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Kolya  »

Filming Locations:

Edit

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$37,795, 26 January 1997, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$5,730,711, 13 July 1997
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Production Co:

, ,  »
Show more on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The DVD version was the first officially published movie DVD in Region 2. See more »

Goofs

After Kolya becomes lost on the subway network and is trying to negotiate the escalator, he is trying to step onto the left hand side of the up escalator. However, from Kolya's point of view shot, he is trying to step onto the right hand side of the up escalator. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Host Lucie Výborné: Jirí Strach (2017) See more »

Soundtracks

A Drop In The Ocean
Written by Vyacheslav Dobrynin (as V.G. Dobrynin), Simon Osiashvili (as S.A. Osiasvili)
© Melodia 1989
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
Touching story with political commentary
28 June 2008 | by – See all my reviews

This is a variation on the theme of an older man whose emotional life is reawakened by his being thrust into unexpected parenting of a young child. Many have complained of the exploitation of such time-worn subject matter, but the worth of "Kolya" lies in the particulars of how its themes are developed. After all there are still good movies made about underdog sports teams prevailing, and even the exact same material (thinking Shakespeare here) can be made fresh through different productions.

The man in question here is Frantisek Louka, the place is the Czech Republic, and the time is 1988 (just prior to the "Velvet Revolution"). Financial constraints tempt Louka to enter into a bargain to marry a Russian woman so she can get Czech citizenship and, it turns out, escape to West Germany to be with her lover. This leaves Louka to care for the child "Kolya." One thing that makes this movie stand out is the quality of the acting by all involved. In particular Andrei Chalimon as the Russian child is very natural and will win your heart as he does Louka's. But it's a slow process.

Another thing that sets this off is the political backdrop. I knew about Russia's occupation of the Czech Republic after World War II and the non-violent overthrow of the Communist government in 1989, but that is about as far as my knowledge went. This movie portrays what it was like to live in that environment in a concrete way that a history book cannot. A lot of little scenes exemplify the underlying tensions, such as Louka's being expected to display both the Czech and Russian flags in his window, Louka's mother refusing to let some Russian soldiers in to wash their hands by lying about her having no water, and Louka's purposeful refusal to learn the Russian language. So, this movie provided a small increment in my knowledge of Czech history and that's better than nothing. How the political situation drives the action makes for a singularly interesting story.

The musical score that contains works by the Czech composers Dvořák, Suk, Fibich, and Smetana adds a special quality.

Don't be turned away from seeing this because it touches on familiar themes; it is a quality film with unique characteristics.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 65 user reviews »
Getting Started | Contributor Zone »

Contribute to This Page

Stream Popular Sci-Fi Titles With Prime Video

Explore popular sci-fi movies and TV shows available to stream with Prime Video.

Start your free trial