''Case for a Rookie Hangman'' ( cs, Případ pro začínajícího kata) is a Czechoslovak

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Pavel Juráček Pavel Juráček (; 2 August 1935 – 20 May 1989) was a Czech screenwriter and film director who studied at FAMU. Juráček started as a screenwriter for many Czech New Wave movies until he became a director. He worked in Prague at the Ba ...

. It was released in 1970. The movie belongs to the Czech New Wave. The movie can be classified as a

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

or absurdist

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

, and it is based loosely on the third book of '' Gulliver's Travels'' by

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...

, but the story is transferred to an early 20th-century world in decay. The movie shows also the influence of

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

and

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...

(''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...

''). The satire is aimed at the Czechoslovak society, and the movie was soon banned after its release in 1970. That meant also the end of Juráček's career.

Cast

* Lubomír Kostelka –

Lemuel Gulliver Lemuel Gulliver () is the fictional protagonist and narrator of ''Gulliver's Travels'', a novel written by Jonathan Swift, first published in 1726. In ''Gulliver's Travels'' According to Swift's novel, Gulliver was born in Nottinghamshire c. ...

* Klára Jerneková – Markéta * Milena Zahrynowská – Dominika *

Radovan Lukavský Radovan Lukavský (1 November 1919 – 10 March 2008) was a Czech theatre and film actor. Lukavský was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1919. He graduated from high school in Český Brod, before continuing his education at the Charles Unive ...

– Professor Beiel * Jiří Janda – Patrik * Luděk Kopřiva – Vilém Seid * Miloš Vávra – Emil *

Miroslav Macháček Miroslav Macháček (May 8, 1922 – February 17, 1991) was a Czech theatre director and an actor. Life and career Miroslav Macháček was born in Nymburk. His father was a car painter and a custodian of the theater in Nymburk and sometimes work ...

– Munodi

Release and Home Media

Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu re-released the film to Czech theaters in 2002. Second Run released the film to UK Blu-ray in 2019

References

External links

* 1970 films 1970 drama films 1970s Czech-language films Czech black-and-white films Czech satirical films Films with screenplays by Pavel Juráček Czech drama films Golden Kingfisher winners 1970s Czech films {{1970s-CzechRepublic-film-stub