Cosy Dens
Cosy Dens | |
---|---|
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Directed by | Jan Hřebejk |
Produced by |
Pavel Borovan Ondřej Trojan |
Written by |
Petr Jarchovský Petr Šabach |
Starring |
Miroslav Donutil Jiřà Kodet Simona StaÅ¡ová EmÃlia Vášáryová Bolek PolÃvka |
Music by |
Ivan Hlas Ivan Kral |
Cinematography | Jan MalÃÅ™ |
Edited by | VladimÃr Barák |
Distributed by | Česká televize |
Release dates |
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Running time | 115 minutes |
Country | Czech Republic |
Language | Czech |
Cosy Dens (Czech: PelÃÅ¡ky) is a 1999 Czech film directed by Jan HÅ™ebejk. It is loosely based on the novel Hovno Hořà (Czech: "Flaming Feces") by Petr Å abach.
Plot summary
PelÃÅ¡ky is a bittersweet coming-of-age story set in the months from Christmas 1967 leading up to the ill-fated 1968 Prague Spring. Teenager Michal Å ebek (Michael Beran) has a crush on his upstairs neighbor, JindÅ™iÅ¡ka Krausová (Kristýna Nováková). Michal's family is headed by a stubborn army officer who is a firm supporter of the communist system and who believes that communist technology will eventually triumph over western imperialist capitalism, while JindÅ™iÅ¡ka's father is an ardent foe of the Communists and a war hero, who has been imprisoned several times because of his outspoken opposition to the regime; he believes that "the Bolsheviks have a year at most, maybe two". In contrast, the younger generation couldn't care less for politics. Instead, Michal sports a Beatles mop-top while Elien (OndÅ™ej Brousek), the local hipster whose parents live in the USA, runs a local film group specialising in Hollywood and pre-war French films, while JindÅ™iÅ¡ka becomes Elien's girlfriend. After a wedding that unites the families, the film ends with the news breaking of the invasion of the Warsaw Pact.
A dispute in the film illustrates the tension between the nationalistic and fervently anti-Communist father and Jindřiška, who is more apolitical. Jindřiška dares to suggest that her mother’s dumplings are closer to Italian gnocchi than traditional Czech knedliky (translated as "Viennese dumplings" in the English subtitles), sending her father into a rage. The plastic spoon on the poster refers to the gifts, miracles of "socialist science", that a Šebek uncle keeps sending the family and which always fail to perform as promised, humiliating the Mr. Šebek. Both cases foreshadow how the political hopes of the fathers are destroyed by the coming Soviet invasion.[1]
Trivia
PelÃÅ¡ky was screened at the 1999 Vancouver Film Festival.
The Czech title is a plural and diminutive of the word "pelech", literally meaning animal den or burrow. It is used figuratively for a cosy hideout.[2]
Cast
- Miroslav Donutil | Mr. Å ebek
- Jiřà Kodet | Mr. Kraus
- Simona Stašová | Mrs. Šebková
- EmÃlia Vášáryová | Mrs. Krausová
- Bolek PolÃvka | Uncle
- Eva Holubová | Teacher
- Marek Morvai | Petr
- Stella Zázvorková | Grandmother
- Jaroslav Dušek | Saša Mašláň
- Michael Beran | Michal Å ebek
- Kristýna Nováková | Jindřiška Krausová
- Jiřà KrejÄÃk | Doctor Stárek
- Sylvie KoblÞková | Uzlinka Å ebková
- Ondřej Brousek | Elien
- Boris Hybner | Magician
Soundtrack
The PelÃÅ¡ky soundtrack was released in April, 1999, and contains clips of some of the actors memorable lines in addition to the musical numbers.
- Blue Effect - "SluneÄný hrob"
- Miroslav Kaman, Jaroslav Dušek - "Dvě dávky"
- Václav Neckář - "Tu kytaru jsem koupil kvůli tobě"
- Boleslav PolÃvka - "Nebe na zemi"
- Kristýna Nováková, Michael Beran, OndÅ™ej Brousek - "KozaÄky..."
- Petr Novák & Flamengo - "PovÃdej"
- Kristýna Nováková, Michael Beran - "NÄ›co jako pÅ™Ãbuzný"
- Waldemar MatuÅ¡ka - "PojÄ se mnou, lásko má"
- EmÃlia Vášáryová, Jiřà Kodet - "Dávám bolÅ¡evikovi rok"
- Hana Hegerová - "Čerešně"
- Miroslav Donutil, Boleslav PolÃvka, Silvie KoblÞková - "Nerozbitná skleniÄka"
- KuÄerovci - "Ajo mama"
- Miroslav Donutil, Michael Beran - "Gagarinův bratr"
- KuÄerovci - "La mulher rendeira"
- Stella Zázvorková, Simona StaÅ¡ová, Miroslav Donutil, Boleslav PolÃvka - "Maršál Malinovskij"
- Judita Čeřovská - "Je po dešti"
- Eva Holubová, Jaroslav Dušek, Marek Morvai-Javorský - "Vyděržaj, pijaněr"
- Václav Neckář - "Lékořice"
- EmÃlia Vášáryová, Kristýna Nováková, Jiřà Kodet - "Noky"
- Karel Gott - "Santa lucia"
- Miroslav Donutil, Boleslav PolÃvka, Jiřà Kodet - "Kde udÄ›lali soudruzi z NDR chybu?"
- Waldemar MatuÅ¡ka - "MrholÃ"
- Eva Holubová, Jaroslav Dušek, Marek Morvai-Javorský - "Hořà hovno? ..."
- Karel Gott & Olympic - "Trezor"
- Jiřà Kodet - "Proletáři všech zemà ..."
- Matadors - "Get Down From The Tree"
- Soulmen - "Baby Do Not Cry"
- Soulmen - "I Wish I Were"
- Blue Effect - "Snakes"
- Miroslav Donutil, Boleslav PolÃvka - "PrůmÄ›rná ženská"
- Blue Effect - "SluneÄnà hrob"
References
External links
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: Cosy Dens |
- Cosy Dens at the Internet Movie Database
- Petr Å abach's Book, Hovno HoÅ™Ã
- Soundtrack Listing
- Cosy Dens at the Kinobox.cz Czech
- PelÃÅ¡ky (Cosy Dens) available for buying on www.czechmovie.com