''Krakonoš a lyžníci'' (Krakonoš and the skiers) is a Czech

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

. It was released in 1981. Set in the Czech mountains on the Polish

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

, in a predominantly poor society, this film combines a

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

with reality: the protagonists (two young brothers from a poor family) meet a man that to them is the mythological "Man of the Mountains" also known as the Krakonoš, who rewards those who come to the mountains with good intentions and punishes those who come with bad in their heart. He is said to be a very magical being, and that's what makes the children think that the man they've met is the Krakonoš, because in their eyes he can fly. Of course, he isn't actually flying: the film is set when skiing was unheard of, so a man with long wooden sticks on his feet that speeds over the snow would seem like a magical being. However, the person that they befriend is actually a smuggler, who crosses the Polish border every now and then to bring over goods that the poor people on the Czech side can actually afford. Of course, the

border police A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In diff ...

are constantly attempting to catch this man, so the two boys soon find themselves wound up in rather complex situation, all portrayed with a great sense of humour.

External links

* 1980 films 1980 comedy films Czech comedy films 1980s Czech films {{1980s-comedy-film-stub