Brno is not a super-popular filming location, but there were some unique movies made in the streets of the town. I picked the three most interesting ones.
I, Distressing God (1969)
40 years ago, the famous novelist Milan Kundera was still OK with the idea of adapting his books and short stories into movies. I have seen all films based on the works of Kundera and I, Distressing God is the best of these.
The first reason of its awesomeness is the fact that the original short story is great. Both the story and the film tell us about an old artist trying to seduce a young, stupid, but beautiful student. He fails and therefore decides to humilitate the girl by a making her sleep with his poor and simple-minded Greek friend in disguise of a great Greek artist. However, the plot takes very unexpected – both funny and tragic, how Kunderish! – direction.
The film is also great for its artistic form. The narration is self-awared and it plays with the audience as a cat with a mouse. Very funny, stylish and fresh Czechoslovak film, unknown even to most people living in Brno – even though it shows the swinging 1960s town.
Rocket to Nowhere (AKA Clown Ferdinand and the Rocket, 1963)
Czechoslovak science fiction for children? Avoid this movie if you are seriously into science fiction. Get it if you want to experience something…. trippy.
Clown Ferdinand lives in a caravan near today’s Spielberk Office Centre (1); he rides his old car trough empty Brno (2) and finally he has a close encounter with UFO (3).
The Inheritance or Fuckoffguysgoodday
Věra Chytilová was a great auteur of the Czechoslovak new wave in the 1960s. This is the first full feature film she directed after the Velvet revolution. It tells a story about a simple-minded alcoholic Bohúš living in a small village near Brno. Suddenly, Bohúš learns that his rich relative died and he acquires unbelieveable amount of wealth. This changes his personality, as well as relations with other people from the Village. Approx. half of the movie takes place in the centre of Brno – scene from the Slavia hotel with famous quote “I am not a racist, I see no difference between black men and gypsies!” is a classic, as well as the cameo of Karel Gott, the most popular Czech pop singer.
The Inheritance or Fuckoffguysgoodday is probably one of the greatest cinematic portraits of the early 1990s, when the society got brand new “elite” – rich people without any noble qualities.
Where to get these flicks
The movies are easy to be bought at newstands on DVDs. If you don’t understand Czech, rip the movies into AVI and download fan-made English subtitles from the internet.