''Jára Cimrman Lying, Sleeping'' () is a 1983 Czechoslovak comedy film directed by

Ladislav Smoljak Ladislav Smoljak (9 December 1931 – 6 June 2010) was a Czechs, Czech film and theater director, actor and screenwriter. Biography Smoljak was born in Prague. He tried to study at an art academy but failed the admission process. He went on to ...

. It is a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

of the fictional

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

national hero Jára Cimrman, who is portrayed by one of his inventors,

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 ...

. The story is framed by an excursion to Liptákov, the (fictional) village where Cimrman allegedly spent the final years of his life. The retrospective passages, which make up most of the film, span Cimrman's whole "known" life, where he interacts with many personalities of Czech and European science and culture in the

Belle Époque The Belle Époque () or La Belle Époque () was a period of French and European history that began after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the Fr ...

. A large portion of the film deals with Cimrman's acting as a tutor in the family of Franz Ferdinand d'Este, the

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. In this role Cimrman is secretly aiming to " split the monarchy".

Cast

- Jára Cimrman (as Zdeněk Svěrák and Company) * Valerie Kaplanová - the museum guide * Petr Čepek - Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este / Nývlt, his double * Josef Abrhám - Theatrical researcher *

Libuše Šafránková Libuše Šafránková (married ''Abrhámová''; 7 June 1953 – 9 June 2021) was a Czech actress. She played leading roles in many Czech films and, according to audience polls, was the most popular Czech actress of the 20th century. She is best k ...

- Alžběta * Ladislav Frej - Marold, painter * Jiří Zahajský - Dr. Emil Holub, explorer * Marie Drahokoupilová - the tour courier * Míla Myslíková - Headmistress * Jaroslav Vozáb - translator * Vladimír Svitáček - Professor Kingsley * Milena Dvorská - Duchess d'Este * Jiří Kostka - Emperor

Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

/ Macháně, his double * Petr Kostka - Mánes, painter * Pavel Vondruška -

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

References

External links

* 1983 comedy films 1983 films Czechoslovak black-and-white films 1980s Czech-language films Films directed by Ladislav Smoljak Films with screenplays by Zdeněk Svěrák Czech comedy films Belle Époque 1980s Czech films Czech-language comedy films {{1980s-comedy-film-stub