Directed by:
Martin FričCinematography:
Jan StallichCast:
Jan Werich, Marie Vášová, Nataša Gollová, Bohuš Záhorský, Jiří Plachý st., Zdeněk Štěpánek, František Filipovský, František Černý, Václav Trégl (more)Plots(1)
Emperor Rudolf II is more interested in art, beautiful women, and alchemy than in ruling. Most of all, he wants to get the elixir of youth and find the legendary Golem. As he focuses on his hobbies, the supreme courtiers, led by chamberlain Lang, join Rudolph's brother Matyas, who seeks the throne. Due to a mistaken identity, the baker Matěj Kotrba becomes the ruler; he looks very similar to the emperor, just twenty-five years younger. He will deal with the prominent courtiers, issue useful orders, and use the Golem to benefit everyone. (Zlín Film Festival)
(more)Reviews (3)
“This one can do this, that one can do that and all together they are doing much.” – The Czech Christmas classic.
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The first half is dominated throughout by Werich's bravura portrayal of the decadent, spoiled, and childish emperor, through which, incidentally, he brilliantly revives archaic vocabulary ("there will be no hackles"). The second half, crammed with the constructivist cackling of a street-wise baker, gets on the nerves a bit in places. Not perhaps because of what he’s preaching about (the times demanded that we just try it), but how he does it in a self-aware and transparent way. One can get past this, however, by purely objectifying scenes like "the protagonist gets confused by the color red and a plum, so he starts singing, without anyone asking, in honor of the utopian beauties of socialism." Hand on heart, who among you has never had that happen?
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Perhaps the only film where I don't mind the obvious building pathos. There's so much sincere faith and enthusiasm, so much anticipation and passion that when members of different crafts start singing that famous hymn, I get chills. The good from the '50s is what makes this film. In the best sense of the word, this is fun for the people, but intelligent, graceful and exciting. With his double role, Jan Werich may have historically made Rudolf II impossible, but he has made him probably the most popular film monarch. Before SORELA made a hideous propaganda pamphlet out of Czech film without a drop of taste and artistic ambition, Frič proved that at its core, an engaged culture for the wide masses is possible... Unfortunately, if it's of really good quality, it proclaims values other than what the dark totalitarianism needs... How else do you explain that this work has enjoyed lasting popularity for more than half a century?
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Gallery (133)
Photo © Československý státní film
![The Emperor's Baker - The Baker's Emperor - Photos - Bohumil Bezouška, Jan Werich, Bohuš Záhorský, Marie Vášová, František Černý](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/165/886/165886929_392645.jpg)
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