''My Sweet Little Village'' ( cs, Vesničko má středisková) is a 1985 Czechoslovak film directed by

Jiří Menzel Jiří Menzel () (23 February 1938 – 5 September 2020) was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these films ...

. In 1987 it was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

Plot

The film's main storyline follows the life of Otík, a young man with mental illness, in a tight-knit village community. The sweet-tempered Otík works as a truck driver assistant to Mr. Pávek, his older colleague and practical-minded neighbor. Pávek's family and Otík's aunt Hrabětová take care of Otík, whose parents are dead. However, the two truck coworkers become at odds over Otík's inability to perform even the simplest tasks. Pávek demands that Otík be transferred to assist another driver, who happens to be a choleric and suspicious man named Turek. Rather than work with Turek, Otík decides to accept an offer of employment in Prague, but finds he does not fit into the city life. After discovering that the transfer of Otík to Prague was a trick by a crooked subordinate of the Dřevoplech company director to get a deal on Otík's large inherited house for his boss, Pávek agrees to give Otík a second chance and retrieves him from the city to resume their work together. The film also follows several subplots, such as, the secret romance of Turek's wife with a young veterinarian, the tribulations of an accident-prone but respected doctor who has almost as much trouble with his pessimistic patients as he does with his car, and the desperate deeds of Pávek's teenage son, who has ardent feelings for an attractive local teacher.

Cast

János Bán János or Janos may refer to: * János, male Hungarian given name, a variant of John Places * Janos Municipality, a municipality of Chihuahua ** Janos, Chihuahua, town in Mexico ** Janos Biosphere Reserve, a nature reserve in Chihuahua * Janos ...

as Ota Rákosník *

Marián Labuda Marián Labuda (28 October 1944 – 5 January 2018) was a Slovak actor. He was born in Hontianske Nemce. In 1964, he graduated from the ''Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava'' (VŠMU). He became a member of the Slovak National Theatr ...

as Karel Pávek *

Rudolf Hrušínský Rudolf Hrušínský (17 October 1920 – 13 April 1994) was a Czech actor. He was one of the most popular Czech actors. Many of his movies such as ''The Good Soldier Švejk'', ''The Cremator'' or '' Capricious Summer'' are considered classics of ...

as Dr. Skružný *

Petr Čepek Petr Čepek (16 September 1940 – 20 September 1994) was a Czech actor. Life He studied acting at Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague at the same class as Ladislav Mrkvička, Josef Abrhám, Jiří Krampol or Jana Drbo ...

as Josef Turek *

Libuše Šafránková Libuše Šafránková (7 June 1953 – 9 June 2021, married as ''Abrhámová'') was a Czech actress. Her husband was actor Josef Abrhám. Her breakthrough was the title role in the 1973 film '' Three Nuts for Cinderella'', which is considered ...

as Jana Turková * Jan Hartl as Václav Kašpar * Miloslav Štibich as Vojtěch Kalina * Oldřich Vlach as Jaromír Kunc * Milada Ježková as Ludmila Hrabětová *

Zdeněk Svěrák Zdeněk Svěrák (born 28 March 1936) is a Czech actor, humorist, playwright and scriptwriter, and one of the most well-known and popular Czech cultural personalities. Since 1968 he has appeared in 32 films. Career In 1958, he graduated in Czec ...

as Painter Evžen Ryba *

Josef Somr Josef Somr (14 April 1934 – 16 October 2022) was a Czech actor. He was noted for starring in the Oscar-winning 1966 film ''Closely Watched Trains'', as well as in '' The Joke''. Early life Somr was born in Vracov, Czechoslovakia, on 14 Apri ...

as Director of Dřevoplech

Reception

In the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

the movie retains a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

. The movie gained favorable reviews from movie critics, with

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

awarding the movie 3 and a half stars out of 4. "''In My Sweet Little Village'', (Menzel) discovers some of the same gentle, ironic humor that Forman found in ''The Fireman's Ball''. He uses everyday life as an instrument for a subtle attack on bureaucracy and a cheerful assertion of human nature. This movie is joyful from beginning to end – a small treasure, but a real one."

Production

The film was made on location in the village of

Křečovice Křečovice is a municipality and village in Benešov District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 800 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages and hamlets of Brdečný, Hodětice, Hořetice, Hůrka, Krchleby, Lho ...

, with some scenes in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Awards

* 1986

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

– won Special Jury Award and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury * 1987

Paris Film Festival The Festival du Film de Paris, also known as Paris Film Festival, was a film festival held annually in Paris, France. It was launched in 1986 as a youth-oriented festival. In 2002, the municipal government withdrew funding and began Festival Paris ...

– won Best Actor award

References

External links

* *
New York Times Review
{{Czechoslovak submission for Academy Awards 1985 films 1985 comedy-drama films 1980s Czech-language films Slovak-language films Films directed by Jiří Menzel Films with screenplays by Zdeněk Svěrák Czech comedy-drama films Czechoslovak comedy-drama films