Czech DVDs

[Perkins Cobb]

I just noticed this. Terrific news, in spite of the aversion I've developed to Palo Bielik based on his '60s films. Petoluk, please do keep us apprised if you continue to review these.

Also, did the SFI skip 2010? I don't remember a set of these releases from last year.

[petoluk]

I just noticed this. Terrific news, in spite of the aversion I've developed to Palo Bielik based on his '60s films. Petoluk, please do keep us apprised if you continue to review these.

Sure thing! Here's #2:



Luck Will Come on Sunday
"A comedy about the popular national lottery and devoted lottery players. Thanks to their gaming passion, three young friends run into various unpleasant but eventually very comic situations. They are willing to invest not only their meager savings but also their tediously earned incomes into their dream of fast and comfortable money-making adventure, which would allow them to fulfill their grand plans. But their dreams of easy riches are not to last and they end up facing disappointment."

Also, did the SFI skip 2010? I don't remember a set of these releases from last year.

Yep, there was no XX's collection in 2010, but they did release a collection of Slovak fairy tales instead [see this older post of mine]...

[MichaelB]

I've just received my first order from DVD Best in Slovakia, and I have to say that their multiple layers of cardboard and packaging tape make even Merlin.pl's legendarily tank-proof efforts look flimsy. Nice prompt service, too - I'll definitely be using them again.

[domino harvey]

Yeah, DVDBest's packaging is hilariously impenetrable. I remember I took my last package from them with me into the bar and everyone was passing around this heavy brick from a small European country and trying to guess the contents-- no one said DVDs!

[Wu.Qinghua]

Unfortunately the homepage is in Slovakian language only, isn't it? I remember I've wanted to buy something from them years ago but decided to cancel everything because of the immense shipping and postage costs back then. Could you explicate how much they are charging at the moment? (8.95 Eu per shipment plus .50 per article)?

[MichaelB]

Unfortunately the homepage is in Slovakian language only, isn't it? I remember I've wanted to buy something from them years ago but decided to cancel everything because of the immense shipping and postage costs back then. Could you explicate how much they are charging at the moment? (8.95 Eu per shipment plus .50 per article)?

I bought fourteen feature films and see that my card was charged £51.99 (or €59.59/$82.01). Which makes it £3.72 per feature including postage, so I don't exactly feel ripped off.

[Wu.Qinghua]

I may remember wrong but the shipping costs for around the same amount of DVDs amounted some years ago to about 50-60E. So now I'll check them out again, too! Thank you for your answer, MichaelB.

[Perkins Cobb]

Yeah, DVDBest's packaging is hilariously impenetrable. I remember I took my last package from them with me into the bar and everyone was passing around this heavy brick from a small European country and trying to guess the contents-- no one said DVDs!

This became less funny after I sawed into my last package from them and ruined the case & artwork for one of the DVDs inside. Not that I didn't anticipate that happening, but I still couldn't find out any other way to penetrate the damn thing.

[knives]

I need photos now because I don't believe that they can be that absurd.

[Ged Parsons]

I'm UK-based, I've just started buying from Czech and Slovak online retailers, and I'm very impressed. I've ordered mainly from DVDBest, and I had a booklet missing from one of the 1960s Slovak films I ordered from them - after I e-mailed them, they popped a spare copy into the second half of my order. Nice.

And, yes, these packages are secure!

On the subject of these Slovakian 'by-decade' sets, the two 1960s sets I've got arrived sealed with their booklet inside the case - but the 1970s set (released earlier?) were sealed with the booklet outside the case. And it seems the booklet is too just big for the case! Anyone else notice this?

Also, some of the 1970s and 1980s films now seem to be sold out, at a number of retailers. I eventually ordered two of the 'missing' ones that I needed ('Orlie Pierko' and 'Medena Veza') when they recently came back into stock at DVDBest, but they turned out to be 'second edition' versions - no SME strapline on the front lower cover, no red 'flash' serial number at the top right, no spine number, and worst of all, no booklets!

Anyone less OCD-ish than me fancy a swap?

[MichaelB]

I wouldn't be the slightest bit bothered about booklets - they're entirely in Slovak, and much of their content seems to be reproduced (and translated) on the discs themselves.

That said, I don't have those two discs, and I daresay if I ordered them now I wouldn't get booklets either.

[petoluk]

Indeed, the reissues are sans booklet, and yes - the first two (if memory serves me right) sets [80's & 70's] had booklets bigger than the case. (No prob for me, as I've simply not enough storage space to keep all my DVDs in cases - I use kind of "folders", with a smaller "sleeve" for the disc and an A5 or so one for the cover (folded) + booklet (if any). Doesn't look nowhere as nice as a full shelf lined with DVD spines, but being able to store like 30 DVDs in a folder less than 10cm thick is a big plus for me. ) Anyway, I don't think you can buy those first pressings (w/ booklets) of those older sets anywhere, but if anybody's interested I still have one or two extra sets of the 60's collections (w/ booklets - but I need to double-check)...

[MichaelB]

This was a freebie from a current DVD Best promotion, so I can't really complain, but you might like to know that the film How The World Is Losing Poets (Jak svět přichází o básníky) does not come with English subtitles, despite the box claiming otherwise.

There is a workaround, but it involves downloading the Czech subtitles from somewhere like http://www.titulky.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and using subtitling software like Jubler to run them through Google Translate, so it's clearly less than ideal.

[petoluk]

Disc #3



Native Land
"This music and dance film is, on the one hand, a sincere celebration of folklore arts and, on the other hand, a typical example of colourful 1950s agit-prop. The story talks about young people coming from different Slovak regions who are turning into enthusiastic members of a professional folk music and dance ensemble. The composition of the movie is set on a framework of picturesque Slovak landscapes and staged choreographies that are reconstructing folklore traditions in the style of the period."

[Perkins Cobb]

Disc #3

Your last screen grab would make Gary Tooze proud.

[petoluk]

Disc #3

Your last screen grab would make Gary Tooze proud.

I better remove it then!

(But really, the last five minutes or so of the film were like 'not of this Earth' - I didn't know whether to roll my eyes in disbelief or roll on the floor laughing... )

[MichaelB]

It looks very similar to a deservedly obscure film by Wojciech Has about a Polish folk dance troupe, made at more or less the same time: I saw it last year during a complete retrospective, on the grounds that it would be my only opportunity.

The early 1950s Socialist Realist period was inordinately keen on celebrating "folk traditions", usually in highly sanitised form.

[admira]

Disc #3

Your last screen grab would make Gary Tooze proud.

I better remove it then! (But really, the last five minutes or so of the film were like 'not of this Earth' - I didn't know whether to roll my eyes in disbelief or roll on the floor laughing)

petoluk, thanks for that, I completely LOVE this screen grab. Is it something in the style of the last five minutes in the Ecstasy?


copyright dvdfreak.bloudil.cz

[petoluk]

petoluk, thanks for that, I completely LOVE this screen grab. Is it something in the style of the last five minutes in the Ecstasy?

Hmm, I wouldn't say so - I just popped in the Filmmuseum DVD of Ekstase to refresh my memory, and those scenes there seem to me more like "celebration of the labour itself", while the ending of Rodna zem shows the actual fruits of our (and our comrades') hard work (accompanied by some more... folk dancing ). Or something...

[admira]

Thanks for the answer.

[admira]

There are a great documentaries from Jiří Hanzelka csfd and Miroslav Zikmund csfd, who travelled around the world in the 50's.

Introduction

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Afrika 1. - Z Maroka na Kilimandžáro ( From Morocco to Kilimanjaro), 1952
Afrika 2. - Od rovníku ke Stolové hoře (From the Equator to the Table Mountain), 1953
Z Argentiny do Mexika (From Argentina to Mexico), 1953
Je-li kde na světě ráj - KAŠMÍR (If there be a paradise on Earth - Kashmir), 1961
Jiří Hanzelka a Miroslav Zikmund v Sovětském svazu (HANZELKA AND ZIKMUND IN THE U.S.S.R.), 1963-64





Jiří Stöhr,
Expedice Lambarene, 1968

[admira]

These films are all with ENG subtitles, from FilmExport - FEX:

Vladimír Slavínský
Advokát chudých (Hard Life of an Adverturer), 1941
Ryba na suchu (Fish out of water), 1942
Poslední mohykán (The Last of the Mohicans), 1947
Nebe a dudy (Chalk and Cheese), 1941
Zlaté dno (Skill of Gold), 1942

Vojtěch Jasný
Touha (Desire), 1958
Až přijde kocour (When the cat comes), 1963

Hugo Haas
Bílá nemoc (The White Disease), 1937

Karel Zeman
Bláznova kronika (A Jester's Tale), 1964

Vladimír Čech
Černý prapor (The Black Battalion), 1958

Alfréd Radok
Daleká cesta (Distant Journey), 1949
Dědeček automobil (The Grandfather of Cars), 1957
Parohy (The Antlers), 1947

František Vláčil
Ďáblova past (The Devil's Trap), 1962
Marketa Lazarová, 1967

Gustav Machatý
Erotikon, 1929
Načeradec, král kibiců (Načeradec, King of the Kibitzers), 1932

Josef Gruss
Hostinec "U kamenného stolu" (The Stone Table Inn), 1949

Josef Mach
Hrátky s čertem (Playing with the devil), 1957
Nikdo nic neví (Nobody knows anything), 1947
Jak se Franta naučil bát (How Franta Learnt to Fear), 1959
O medvědu Ondřejovi (The Bear and the Ghosts), 1959
Tři chlapi v chalupě (Three Men in a Cottage), 1963

Vladimír Borský
Jan Roháč z Dubé (Warriors of Faith), 1947

Zdeněk Podskalský
Kam čert nemůže (Where the Devil Cannot Get), 1959

Ladislav Brom
Klapzubova XI. (The Klapzuba's Eleven), 1938
Ulice zpívá (The Street Sings), 1939

Karel Kachyňa
Král Šumavy (Smugglers of Death), 1959
Práče (The Slinger), 1960

Svatopluk Innemann
Lásky Kačenky Strnadové (The Loves of Kačenka Strnadová), 1926
Falešná kočička (The False Pussycat), 1926

Milan Vošmík
Honzíkova cesta (Johnny's Journey), 1956

Karel Lamač
Lelíček ve službách Sherlocka Holmesa (Lelíček in the Services of Sherlock Holmes), 1932
Ducháček to zařídí (Ducháček Will Fix It), 1938
On a jeho sestra (Him and His Sister), 1931
To neznáte Hadimršku (You Don't Know Hadimrška), 1931
U pokladny stál... (He Stood at the Till...), 1939
C. a k. polní maršálek (Imperial and Royal Field Marshal), 1930
Funebrák (The Undertaker), 1932
Nezlobte dědečka (Don't Make Grandpa Angry), 1934

Oldřich Lipský
Limonádový Joe aneb Koňská opera (Lemonade Joe), 1964
Muž z prvního století (The Man from the First Century), 1961
Slepice a kostelník (The Hen and the Sexton), 1950

Václav Krška
Měsíc nad řekou (Moon over the River), 1953
Stříbrný vítr (Silvery Wind), 1954
Řeka čaruje (The River), 1945
Mladá léta (Early Days), 1952

Jaromír Pleskot
Obušku, z pytle ven! (Stick, Stick, Start Beating!), 1955
Cech panen kutnohorských (The Guild of the Kutná Hora Virgins), 1938

Jiří Krejčík
Vyšší princip (A Higher Principle), 1960
Morálka paní Dulské (Moral Mrs.Dulska), 1958
O věcech nadpřirozených (Of Things Supernatural), 1958

Bořivoj Zeman
Pyšná princezna (The Proud Princess), 1952
Byl jednou jeden král (Once Upon a Time, There Was a King), 1954
Dovolená s Andělem (Holiday with Angel), 1952
Anděl na horách (Angel in the Mountains), 1955

Josef Rovenský
Řeka (The River), 1933

Ján Kadár, Elmar Klos
Smrt si říká Engelchen (Death Is Called Engelchen), 1963

Ladislav Rychman
Starci na chmelu (Hop-Pickers), 1964

Ivo Toman
Tanková brigáda (The Tank Brigade), 1955

Jiří Weiss
Uloupená hranice (The Stolen Frontier), 1947

[admira]

continuing of the films from FEX:

Otakar Vávra
Krakatit, 1948
Jan Žižka, 1955
Panenství (Virginity), 1937
Proti všem (Against All), 1957
Jan Hus, 1954
Cech panen kutnohorských (The Merry Wives), 1939
Turbina, 1941
Dívka v modrém, 1940
Nezbedný bakalář (The Frankful Bachelor), 1946
Němá barikáda (The silent barricade), 1949

Vladimír Sís
Král komiků (The King of Comedians), 1963


Václav Wasserman
Přednosta stanice (The Station Master), 1941
Nejlepší člověk (The Best Man of All), 1954
Plavecký mariáš, 1952

Miroslav Cikán
Z českých mlýnů (From The Bohemian Mills), 1941
Provdám svou ženu (I'll Marry Off My Wife), 1941
U nás v Kocourkově (Our Town of Dullsville), 1934
Hrdinný kapitán Korkorán (The Heroic Captain Korkoran), 1934
Muž v povětří (The Man in The Air), 1955

Karel Steklý
Dobrý voják Švejk (The Good Soldier Schweik), 1956
Poslušně hlásím (Beg to Report), 1957
Strakonický dudák (The bagpiper of Strakonice), 1955

Martin Frič
Pytlákova schovanka aneb Šlechetný milionář (The Poacher's Foster Daughter or Noble Millionaire), 1949
Mravnost nade vše (Morality above All Else), 1937
Tetička (Auntie), 1941
Jánošík, 1935
Ať žije nebožtík (Long Live the Dearly Departed), 1935
Čapkovy povídky (Tales by Čapek), 1947
Valentin Dobrotivý (Valentin the Kind), 1942
Hotel Modrá hvězda (The Hotel Modrá hvězda), 1941
Princezna se zlatou hvězdou (The Princess with the Golden Star), 1959
Cesta do hlubin študákovy duše (Journey into the Depth of the Student's Soul), 1939
Dařbuján a Pandrhola, 1959
Život je pes (Life Is a Dog), 1933
Císařův pekař - Pekařův císař (The Emperor's Baker - The Baker's Emperor), 1951
Tři vejce do skla (Three Boiled Eggs), 1937
Roztomilý člověk (Sweet Person), 1941
Těžký život dobrodruha (The Hard Life of an Adventurer), 1941
Anton Špelec, ostrostřelec (Anton Špelec, Sharp-Shooter), 1932
Hrdina jedné noci (Hero for a Night), 1935
Škola základ života (School Is the Foundation of Life), 1938
Eva tropí hlouposti (Eva Fools Around), 1939
Kristian, 1939
Dvanáct křesel (Twelve Armchairs), 1933
Katakomby (The Catacombs), 1940
Baron Prášil (Baron Műnchausen), 1940
Pobočník Jeho Výsosti (His Highness' Adjutant), 1933
U snědeného krámu (Eaten Out of House and Home), 1933
Jedenácté přikázání (The Eleventh Commandment), 1935
Revizor, 1933
Prstýnek (The Ring), 1944
Zaostřit prosím! (Focus, please!), 1956
Počestné paní pardubické (The Respectable Women of Pardubice), 1944
---------------------------

4x (HERE) Voskovec a Werich - Pudr a benzin/Peníze nebo život/Hej-Rup!/Svět patří nám

Karel Anton
Cikáni (Gipsies), 1921

Zet Molas
Karel Hynek Mácha, 1937

Antonín Kachlík
Bylo nás deset (There Were Ten of Us), 1963

[MichaelB]

Filmexport is just about the most reliable Czech label - I have a dozen of their releases, and it seems that you can generally count on an excellent transfer (their Lemonade Joe is light years ahead of the Facets abomination) and idiomatic English subtitles. The only downside is that the extras are tantalisingly comprehensive but almost invariably Czech-only (though Ikarie XB-1 includes English-language clips of the appalling American version, whose ending completely undermines the rest of the film).

[petoluk]

Disc #4



Forty-Four Mutineers
"A drama about a legendary rebellion of Slovak troops of the 71st regiment who rise against the officers of the Austro-Hungarian army stationed in the Serbian town of Kragujevac during World War One. The film is an open criticism of the absurdity of military conflicts and an expression of spontaneous resistance against aggression and violence. The story also pays homage to all those who found the courage to oppose the war regardless of the consequences and revolt against its ruthless and inhuman nature."