Profile
Jiří Brdečka Part I
The Loooves of Jiří Brdečka
Miroslava Humplíková | Czechoslovakia | 1986 | 16 min
The documentary portraits Jiří Brdečka as an author behind both animated and live action films.
Springman and the SS
Jiří Trnka | Czechoslovakia | 1946 | 13 min
There was a legend during the German occupation ofPrague. The legend had it that a man jumping on springs terrified the German intruders. A brilliant satire by Jiří Trnka a Jiří Brdečka is from 1946, only two years after the war.
Love and the Zeppelin
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1948 | 8 min
A genre story from turn-of-the-century Paris full depicts the age of industrial development, technique, futurism and a general optimism.
The Grotesque Chicken
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1963 | 9 min
One of the most famous films of the Czech cinematography that without any doubt belongs to the golden collection of animated films of the world. A story of a well-behaved pupil and an obsequious apple polisher who slavishly obeys orders, and a scatterbrained but creative boy who escapes the world of mindless school drill into a magical fantasy realm. A film about the strength of imagination.
The Letter M
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1964 | 8 min
A famous Jiří Brdečka film that went down in history of the world cinematography thanks to its innovative style. A lyrical film poem inspired by a Czech gothic love song about happy love.
The Joy of Love
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1966 | 7 min
“The joy of love is temporary; the sadness of love is forever.” This verse is at the beginning of this poetic film telling the story of a man who is never satisfied with the present moments and in the end he is left only with memories.
Why Are You Smiling Mona Lisa?
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1966 | 14 min
The humorous story is a mild caricature of all more or less unrealistic hypotheses regarding the smile of Mona Lisa and explains it with a fair amount of naughtiness.
Forester’s Song; Let’s Go Hunting in the Woods
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1966 | 10 min
Jiří Brdečka adapted the notorious folk song for the screen mainly to show the poetic talents of painter František Buran, a naivist who was a colleague of Jiří Trnka. The film skilfully combines modern cinematographic techniques with naivist art.
Jiří Brdečka Part II
Metamorpheus
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1969 | 14 min
A song about Orpheus and his song that was destroyed by barbaric Bacchantes in the manner ofPompeiifrescos. The allegory about destruction of classical culture was interpreted as a response to the 1968 occupation ofCzechoslovakia. The film ended up in communist depositories for many years.
Wise Aristotle Gets Even Wiser
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1970 | 11 min
Aristotle is a strict tutor and a scientist and does not get distracted by any inferiority – that is until he is seduced by a pretty girl.
There Was a Miller on the River
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1971 | 11 min
Film tells the story of a soldier who returns home after twenty years. His parents don’t recognise him, rob him and eventually kill him. When they realise what happened, they commit suicides. This film reminds of old cantastorias accompanied by naive pictures. The same story inspired also Albert Camus to write The Misunderstanding.
The Face
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1973 | 3 min
An experimental film capturing life reflected in a man’s face from birth to death. Significant bearer of meaning is the soundtrack.
The Miner’s Rose
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1974 | 13 min
Jiří Brdečka chose a miner’s song from the 19th century. A young girl gives her lover a red rose before he goes to work in a mine. However a tragic death is stronger than love. An excellent short and an ode to folk poetry.
What I Didn’t Say to the Prince
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1975 | 10 min
An extraordinary version of Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince gave a chance to graphic artist Jitka Walterová who was possibly the only person able to re-create Brdečka’s inner world.
Looove
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1978 | 10 min
A lyrical and ironic story about the friendship of a writer and a spider. The spider spins a present for his poor friend’s love. The beauty loves the present but is terrified by the abominable insect. A friend has to kill a friend. But the spider’s sole is on its way to heaven and it’s happy that it helped looove.
The Copper Prince’s Thirteenth Chamber
Jiří Brdečka | Czechoslovakia | 1980 | 10 min
A grotesque fairy-tale for adults that tells the story of the Copper prince and the princess Snowflake. Jiří Brdečka shows love and relation of two different types of people with a typical touch of irony.