Dobrý voják Švejk
Directed by:
Karel SteklýScreenplay:
Karel SteklýCinematography:
Rudolf Stahl ml.Composer:
Jan SeidelCast:
Rudolf Hrušínský, Eva Svobodová, Josef Hlinomaz, František Filipovský, Miloš Kopecký, Svatopluk Beneš, Božena Havlíčková, Felix le Breux, Libuše Bokrová (more)Plots(1)
The dog dealer Švejk is informed by his landlady Mrs Müllerová that the Archduke Ferdinand has been shot. Tormented by rheumathism, Švejk still goes to the 'At the Chalice' pub. The secret police agent Bretschneider provokes him to speak about politics and gets Švejk and the owner of the pub Palivec arrested for high treason. After a police interrogation and an examination by a board of psychiatrists, Švejk is freed for patent idiocy. Despite constant pains in his legs, Švejk decides to join the army and arrives to sign up in a wheel-chair. He finds himself together with other 'hypochondriacs' in the army hospital. In the soldiers' chapel, he is the only one who is brought to tears by the sermon of the completely drunk Army Chaplain Katz, who takes him on as his batman. Švejk works for him devotedly, but Katz loses him in a game of cards with the Lieutenant Lukáš. Once again, Švejk is working himself to death - he saves the lieutenant from his pestering mistress and even steals a dog for him. Unfortunately, the owner of the dog is the Colonel, who makes sure that Lukáš is moved to České Budějovice for punishment, where the battalions are being formed and sent to the front. Švejk is already rejoicing in the prospect of them both dying for the Emperor and his Family. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (2)
Regardless of the source material, and I admit I haven't read it yet, the film The Good Soldier Schweik presents great characters, a superb plot, intriguing twists, and humor that not even ten contemporary comedies combined could match. And isn't it that the film isn't just about a joke every second, but that each joke is well-crafted and lands perfectly? Moreover, you recognize the beginnings of many legendary Czech actors here, seeing them in their truly young years. This is simply a golden treasure of Czech cinema that I've successfully avoided for a long time.
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Švejk, played by Rudolf Hrušínský, is an adorable Czech schnitzel with rather poor mental potential at first glance, but unlike Hašek’s Švejk, he lacks that subtlety in inconspicuously mocking the authorities and undermining the seriousness of the war. Steklý simply presents Švejk as a great humanist and a man of the people, but in my opinion the book Švejk is basically elusive in physical form. What we see on the screen is not Hašek’s Švejk, but Lada's Švejk. Hašek’s Švejk is unique in that it is not the story of one person, but of the whole war in all its bizarreness and absurdity. That's where the film fails. Enough chatter. From a comedy point of view, this film has everything important – great acting performances (Kopecký and especially Marvan!), good dialogues and the appropriate momentum. I don't think it could have been acted any better, but I always prefer to reach for Hašek's book, which is just one dimension richer...
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