In post-WWII Communist Czechoslovakia, several characters considered bourgeois are sentenced to work in a junkyard for rehabilitation. Among them is a young man who pines for a female convict.
An allegory set in an archetypal Czech village, it tells of what happens when a sequence of mysterious events take place, including the disappearance of the stationmaster. While everything has a rational explanation, collective paranoia takes hold and everyone’s worst instincts are released. Interrogations, the abolition of rights and the search for scapegoats ultimately lead to murder
A day in the life of Arnošt, a soldier staying in Josefov. A sense of desperation permeates the environment as well as the mind of the protagonist. It is sunday, and saturday left just a hangover. Days go by, nothing changes. A metaphor for the political situation in the Czech lands at a time where depicting a soldier as a drunk was considered out of place to say the least.
A young teacher is sent to a rural reform school, where he is faced with brutality of the inmates.
A successful scientist dares to openly and forcefully criticize the unproductive activities of the institute in which he works. He draws attention to outdated procedures and also to the fact that scientific work must not fall into the abyss of mediocrity and everyday grayness, so typical of the entire society. Will his career withstand this situation?
Matylda (Jaroslava Ticha), who lives in the Czech countryside, is trying to arrange burial plans for her dying husband, Jan (Ludvik Kroner). While Matylda hopes to have a funeral for Jan in the small town where they once lived, there are complications. Years earlier, Jan spoke out against the Communist government and was consequently expelled from the town. When Matylda fails to convince a local politician to allow the ceremony, she uses her husband's funeral as a public show of dissent.
In the film, the creative forces of personalities from three spheres of art collide. The subtitle "The Game of Love and Hate" refers to the motivation of an old Czech medieval satire, the theme belongs to Antonín Přidal, an expert on this subject. His collaboration with Juraj Herz created a collage of past and present, an updated, sharp satire and a parable about the clash of human qualities that could not but end up in the vault. The music of the Prague Selection - Michael Kocáb and Michal Pavlíček - also contributed to the film's offensive provocativeness - the film was one of the reasons for their complete move to the underground. The dancing chorus of medieval citizens resembles more of a jumble of long-haired maniacs, the edge of a contemporary dump intrudes into the space of a medieval marketplace, and the characters oscillate between the past and the present, whether in their appearance, symbolism or behaviour.
A television recording of a theatrical production of Alfred Jarry's absurd drama about the gluttonous, gluttonous, compulsive and unscrupulous Father Ubo, who, with the generous advice of his ambitious wife, gets rid of the Polish king and seizes his throne. He establishes a reign of terror in which he only cares about his own benefit, so it is not surprising that the people rebel against him. The recording was made at the end of July 1968 and, thanks to a copy saved from destruction during the normalization period, was first published in 1990.
Jan 69
A run-of-the-mill family is terrorized by strangers dressed in military garb who invade their private realm.
London special agents Wong Tak-fat and Fong Lung have arrived in Hong Kong to investigate a murder in connection with a drugs trafficking ring. Fong attends a ball hosted by his girlfriend's rich father Sze Kam-wing where evidences lead him to the Black Eye Bar. Wong befriends the recently widowed bar owner Lee Mei-chen and soon becomes enlisted as member of the ring and the ring leader's trusted aide. Falling in love with Lee, Wong is told that her husband was killed for leaving the organisation. Wong is however unable to establish contact with Fong with all outside communication cut off. Anxious to hear from Wong, Fong investigates discreetly at the bar. Mistaken for a cop, Fong is captured but helped to flee by Lee. Alarmed by Fong's escape and the leak of Wong's identity, ring members are just about to execute Wong and Lee just when the police raid the drugs den and arrest the ringleader—Sze.
During the swimming training camp, coach Sofia and her husband, coach Trofim, take their niece, an orphan, to raise. Anya shows hope, but does not talk after the death of her parents, which becomes the subject of harassment among other athletes. By standing up for Dima, one of the guys on the team, she gets her first real friend. In parallel, a chain of irreversible consequences begins, which can destroy the relationship of Trofim and Sophia.
Andrey is a terminally ill writer, who is waiting for his euthanasia date. Now his main wish is to finish all of his affairs and to be prepared for the inevitable. But suddenly he meets a new helper and falls in love with a young woman. Will their love grant him peace of mind during his final days?
Abandoned as a child, Zuku has become a brigand to survive. One night after committing a robbery, he is approached by a strange little girl who prompts him to visit the pine grove beach nearby. Upon arriving there, Zuku is surprised to discover an unconscious young woman covered in a sparkling veil. Enticed by its splendid material, he snatches the fabric and attempts to flee. But its owner unexpectedly awakens, begging him to return the precious accessory. With no other memory save for the veil's importance, the woman refuses to let Zuku leave without recovering it. Showing no remorse, the bandit violently renounces her plea—but little does he know, this unusual encounter will change his life forever.
An ambitious young woman, desperate for followers and fame, fakes a trip to Paris to up her social media presence. When a terrifying incident takes place in the real world and becomes part of her imaginary trip, her white lie becomes a moral quandary that offers her all the attention she’s wanted.
Hi no Tori is a collection of stories that all have something in common. The Phoenix, whose blood is believed to give an eternal life to one who drinks it. Therefore many seek to kill it, but as the Phoenix of the tale, it's reborn from the ashes. Stories take place in future and the past, where humans fight with each other as always, and everyone is afraid to die. But still, every story teaches a lesson: Life is beginning of an eternity, an never-ending cycle.