Camera
Josef Střecha
Born — Died
1907-11-03 — 1985-03-29
Place of birth
Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]
Known for
Camera
Credits
62 titles
Known for
7.3Thirty Cases of Major Zeman is a Czechoslovak action-drama television show intended as a political propaganda to support the official attitude of the communist party. The series were filmed in the 1970s. Each episode encompasses one year, and investigations are stylized to that year. Most are inspired by real cases. The series follows the life of police investigator Jan Zeman during his career from 1945 to 1975.
Thirty Cases of Major Zema
1976
7.6It's the year 2484 and the Earth is threatened by a rogue comet which could fatally change its orbit. The solution is surprising - Adam Bernau, the greatest genius of 20th century developed 500 years ago an ingenious formula for easy transporting of continents and even worlds. Unfortunately, he made this discovery at the age of 11 and the exercise book containing it was destroyed in the fire. But this is not a challenge to Academic Filip who decides to send an expedition back in time to retrieve the precious exercise book from the fire. But everything is not so simple as it seems...
The Visitors
1983
6.4At long last, King Dalimil and Queen Eliška have produced an heir, Princess Růženka. Consumed with envy, Eliška’s sister Melánie casts a curse: On the day Růženka turns seventeen, she will prick her finger and fall into a deep sleep together with the entire kingdom.
How to Wake a Princess
1978
6.5Returning home to Prague, the magician Pasparte, an owner of a circus caravan, meets his dying colleague who entrusts his beautiful daughter Aloisie to his care. In Prague they all take up their lodgings at the house At Blue Fish in which they intend to arrange the programs. The firm is owned by widow Evzenie with whom Pasparte shares flat and bed. Evzenie is jealous of Aloisie therefore Pasparte sends Aloisie as a housewife to the single man Jakub Kolenatý who earns his living by photographing and wants to record the revived pictures of Prague. Pasparte wants to found in Prague the first permanent Czech movie theatre in which there would be projected also the original Czech films.
Those Wonderful Movie Cranks
1979
6.4The heroes of this absurd comedy, full of confusion and humor are Dzharda Zemanek and Frantisek Liska.
A Nice Plate of Spinach
1977
7.8This comedy is about one average family. The father works as master in the factory and his son is studying on high school. One day father must start to visit the evening school. It's the same school as his son visiting. The lives both students are connecting together. The son must teach the math and physics his own father. The father getting to know, that the life of the students is not simple as he supposed.
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen!
1976
Film credits
1980s · 24 titles
6.4Set in Prague during the years leading up to World War II, this family saga tells the story of a cobbler named Vincenc Bursik (Vladimir Mensik), who uproots his clan from the country to the city, only to suffer the loss of his wife and the failure of his shoe business within months. When his daughter moves away to go live with a wealthy businessman as his mistress, Vincenc is left to take care of his two sons, who spend their days in a secret garden vying for the affections of a teenage girl.
Love Between the Raindrops
1980
6.7For the Novák and Bartáček families, money is king, and they'll do just about anything to get it. While René Novák pitches his parents a lucrative scheme to swindle as many people with the last name Novák in the country as possible, the Bartáček clan decides to pretend to be much poorer than they really are in order to siphon some dollars from an American relative. And it doesn't take long before these separate scams start to intertwine.
Co je doma to se počítá, pánové...
1980
7.4This satirical comedy depicts the fate of two con artists who constantly encounter sharper and more experienced rivals. In their quest for easy profits, they often change several jobs and come up with a variety of original tricks and thievery. Each time, however, someone else profits from their ideas. And when they seek revenge on their crooked rivals, they end up back where they started - behind bars...
Příště budeme chytřejší, staroušku!
1982
7.1A comedy concerning a down on his luck bookshop owner with a penchant for women who decides to make some money by pretending to be a waiter and collecting cash from unsuspecting diners.
Run, Waiter, Run!
1981
6.2Biography of the life of Guillaume Apollinaire.
La Chanson du mal-aimé
1982
6.2A docudrama about four weeks in the life of famous Czech composer Antonin Dvorak. The drama - filled with many of Dvorak's compositions - begins when the composer suddenly decides to cut a concert in London and return home. While on the train, flashbacks reveal his relationship to his wife Anna and her sister Josefina. Both women gave him inspiration, yet Dvorak is clearly troubled in some way as musical excerpts come and go in his creative mind.
Concert at the End of Summer
1980
A comedy about the love of the Czech nobleman Záviš of Falkenštejn for the Hungarian princess Kunhuta, who later married Přemysl Otakar II and became the Czech queen.
Hra o královnu
1981
6.1Her mother dead, 18-year-old Vladka travels to a remote village in the dead of winter to find the father she has never met. The happiness of their initial meeting gives way to the daughter’s disappointment and concern over the hardworking man’s alcoholism.
Serpent's Poison
1982
6.7The story takes place in a retirement home and creates a mosaic of the lives of old people who are trying to find a relationship with themselves and with life in these specific conditions. Each of its residents has a distinctive approach to life and its basic values. The most interesting features of the title, which is marked by a visibly cold production approach, are the worthy performances of the actors of the older generation. Some of them appeared in front of the camera after many years and unfortunately for the last time.
Konečná stanice
1982
5.0A story of two boys who during the summer at a recreation area become best friends despite being enemies at first.
Like Rabbits
1982
7.5Car transport of the locomotive is difficult, as the cargo is bulky. The three-man crew of the tractor therefore experiences many difficulties on the long journey across Bohemia...
Poprask na silnici E 4
1980
5.2Vera, wife of the plumber Simandl (Josef Somr), is found murdered in the cinema next to the IDOC (Information and Documentation) agency where she worked. Police captain Marha (Frantisek Nemec), who is leading the investigation, is informed by Simandl that on the day of the murder Vera promised to bring home fifty thousand crowns to buy a car. Marha's primary suspects are the three men working at the agency: deputy editor-in-chief Brandl (Jirí Pleskot) and editors Pernata (Eduard Cupák) and Remes (Ludek Munzar, and of course also Simandl.
Čas pracuje pro vraha
1980
7.2Mr Jiš managed to give his first script at Barrandov. Already in the preparatory phase, he discovers with horror that the filmmakers have completely bypassed his intention - instead of a probe into the life of a contemporary village, they are preparing a spectacular musical show, which they are convinced will be a hit with the audience. The very first shots speak volumes. An elegiac arrives in the village of Lipovec and is greeted with singing and dancing by all the local officials and ordinary citizens, as this coveted expert is to help them increase their hectare yields with his progressive methods. The filming continues in a similar vein, and the newly minted screenwriter can't help but wonder...
The Hit
1981
4.8The film follows Karel Novák, who is appointed as the head of a research institute's new department. His ambitious wife, Eva, sees this as an opportunity for social advancement. She quits her job, turns their apartment into a hair salon, and begins networking with influential people. However, her efforts entangle Karel in a web of shady business dealings, including a dubious connection with a foreign company, Djungarden. As misunderstandings and comedic mishaps unfold, Karel finds himself in trouble with the police, while Eva struggles to maintain control over their chaotic rise in society.
We Are Basically Normal
1982
4.0Young couple Hynek and Pavla are on the verge of divorce, largely due to Hynek’s meddling mother. When Pavla’s father unexpectedly visits, they pretend their marriage is intact, leading to awkward situations—especially after he lavishly gifts them a new car. Tensions rise further when Pavla learns her father plans his own separation due to a mistress, forcing all parties to confront hidden grievances.
Když rozvod, tak rozvod
1983
5.8The future communist journalist Julius Fučík had a stimulating childhood and youth in a working-class environment, when his moral maturity was already showing. The authors of the film recall that the young Julek was a star of the suburban operetta scene, and in three episodes they depict him both in his early childhood and already at the gymnasium, when the outbreak of the World War shaped his determination.
Julek
1980
8.0This wacky musical comedy builds on absurd ideas, parodic humour and many variously subverted references to famous...
Hodinářova svatební cesta korálovým mořem
1980
It is 1883 and Josef Hibes, a social democrat, is organising a strike of textile workers. The main demand is a reduction in working hours...
Hodina života
1981
4.7The story of the friendship between František and Gustav, which fades over the years, as well as the memory of a magical, almost dreamlike experience...
Kouzelné dobrodružství
1983
9.0The Czech film Svítalo All Night was made to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the liberation of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Army and is dedicated to all those who fought and gave their lives in Prague in the May Uprising of 1945. Behind the historical events, the creators see mainly their simple, unassuming participants. Thus, we are presented with a number of apt portraits, whether it is the central hero Dr. Soukup and nurse Daniela on the side of the fighting Czechs, or a captain and a simple private in a Red Army unit coming to the aid of the fighting Prague, or an old, war-weary German major, who only realises the senselessness of the war at the sight of a fanatical, cynical lieutenant for whom Nazi ideology represents the meaning of life.
Svítalo celou noc
1980
No synopsis available yet.
V hlavní roli Oldřich Nový
1980
9.0The peculiar Fanoš Mikulecký is the originator of many well-known songs from Podluží, generally considered folk songs. Next to him, the other main protagonist of the story is Honza, a musician and an uneducated journalism student. On one of his journeys he meets his former professor. He suggests that together they visit one of those who compose folk songs but do not claim authorship, Fanoš Mikulecký. With him, Honza understands the meaning of artistic creation and the fulfilment of human life...
Opera ve vinici
1982
10.0A group of children is trying to solve a mystery related to the diamonds smuggling.
Don't Call Me Major
1981
6.2In an unusual, apolitical approach, director Jaromil Jires has fashioned a standard drama that features an older lawyer with failing health who goes to practice in the countryside. His series of odd court cases reveals more about the human condition than about law. In one of these litigations a wayward nephew has cheated his elderly aunt out of her savings. In court, the nephew insists the money was a gift, but his aunt explains she only gave him the money as a loan. Although the lawyer technically wins the case, everything of value seems lost in the meantime. His services are paid for in rabbits because the aunt has no currency, and in the end, the nephew cons his aunt into parting with her savings anyway. Other cases expose similar types of petty corruption.
Payment in Kind
1980
1970s · 35 titles
6.4At long last, King Dalimil and Queen Eliška have produced an heir, Princess Růženka. Consumed with envy, Eliška’s sister Melánie casts a curse: On the day Růženka turns seventeen, she will prick her finger and fall into a deep sleep together with the entire kingdom.
How to Wake a Princess
1978
6.5Returning home to Prague, the magician Pasparte, an owner of a circus caravan, meets his dying colleague who entrusts his beautiful daughter Aloisie to his care. In Prague they all take up their lodgings at the house At Blue Fish in which they intend to arrange the programs. The firm is owned by widow Evzenie with whom Pasparte shares flat and bed. Evzenie is jealous of Aloisie therefore Pasparte sends Aloisie as a housewife to the single man Jakub Kolenatý who earns his living by photographing and wants to record the revived pictures of Prague. Pasparte wants to found in Prague the first permanent Czech movie theatre in which there would be projected also the original Czech films.
Those Wonderful Movie Cranks
1979
6.4The heroes of this absurd comedy, full of confusion and humor are Dzharda Zemanek and Frantisek Liska.
A Nice Plate of Spinach
1977
7.8This comedy is about one average family. The father works as master in the factory and his son is studying on high school. One day father must start to visit the evening school. It's the same school as his son visiting. The lives both students are connecting together. The son must teach the math and physics his own father. The father getting to know, that the life of the students is not simple as he supposed.
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen!
1976
6.1An historical depiction of the events preceding the political murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, would-be emperor of the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on June 28th, 1914.
The Day That Shook the World
1975
7.3A comedy about exchange of 12 apartments , which, its organizer, lawyer Radosta, rightly called Action Ball Lightning. To prepare, organize and execute the exchange of twelve apartments is a work worthy champions. Radosta, who was excellently played by Rudolf Hrušínský, solved all sudden difficulties and complications on the fly and with grace. To be sure that the on the D-day everything goes well he prepares a little rehearsal, which reveals many minor issues caused for example by wedding ordered to inappropriate term or hesitation of some participants. Last but not least a night exercise announced by drunk psychologist Knotků, creates a lot of confusion that nearly sabotaged the whole operation.
Ball Lightning
1979
5.8To the intolerant and bloody-minded Prague actor Bergner (Milos Kopecký) is the lead in Moliere's Misanthrope which he is studying now as tailor-made. On top of that he is malicious and he advises to the new actress Helenka (Dagmar Havlová) in such a way that she upsets the theatre director. If Bergner accuses somebody of a mischief and he is wrong, he never apologizes. When he almost crashes an older elegant lady by his car on the zebra crossing, instead of an apology he calls her an old ballet dancer... But in Brno's TV he takes part in a discussion on manners and he gives himself as an example of good manners and grace. In the train he meets a magic old man (Ladislav Pesek) who warns him and admonishes him to change his behavior. After he arrives to Prague the old man's threat comes true.
I'll Be Good, Old Man!
1979
8.0The director of films for kids called Bonzurka together with her loyal assistants Drahuska and Honza are looking for the actors for a new movie "The Knee". Children for this movie should not be afraid and shy and they must have talent for acting. Thus the scouting is quite difficult. The most difficult is to find an actress for a main character who lost her hair after a serious illness and now has to spent the whole holiday in the countryside with a bald head resembling a knee. Although the makeup artist does his best an artificial baldness does not solve anything. From the selected little girls only the self-assertive Rosemary has the guts to let her long hair to be cut and shave off her head.
A Major Role for Rosmaryna
1978
5.8Láda Pitras (Ludek Sobota) and Oto Vacák (Petr Nározný) founded in the company Pragokov a Research department of recruitment of labor. For recruitment of workers in professions sought after both recruiters worked out an effective, often almost illegal methods. They followed secretly for instance the welder Niederle and managed to record his lovesick courting to his colleague Anicka. The fear of his jealous wife made him to join Pragokov.
'Okay, Boss...!'
1978
5.6The fisherman Fuksa fishes in the creek an old bottle and he sells it to innkeeper Merta. When Merta opens it, a genie appears, who can fulfill all his wishes.
Monkey's Playtime
1978
6.7A stout middle-aged physician whose marriage has come apart establishes a practice in a small town. Gradually he's drawn into the lives of his patients—a childless couple, a pregnant girl with a stern mother, the son of a duck farmer—and each relationship reveals a bit more about him and the idyllic but insular community.
Smoke on the Potato Fields
1977
4.2Good-looking Edita Beningerová (Jana Brejchová) arrives at a chemical factory in the North Bohemian town of Ústí nad Labem together with her young assistant Nada (Zlata Adamovská). She is hoping that her ex-husband, outstanding practical chemical engineer Vik Panc (Eduard Cupák), will help her conduct an experiment to validate her proposed theoretical method of isolating cholesterol from lanolin. The success of Edita's invention is crucial for her career at the Prague Institute of Chemistry. Vik's roommate from his hostel Bréta (Ivan Vyskocil) is thrilled. He will finally meet the mysterious and fascinating Edita about whom he has learned so much from Vik.
The Young Man and Moby Dick
1979
4.5It doesn't help to have an exacerbated situation like a family losing their only son - killed in a motorcycle accident. His parents, however, don't know the girl who survived, now being treated at a local hospital. Especially the honest and principled father, presented as a model worker and responsible official, cannot come to terms with her superficiality and carelessness, with her dubious life values...
Shadow of a Flying Bird
1977
8.0A communist agent, who has successfully caught on with the stupidly gullible American secret services, does not have it easy - he is threatened with exposal, but he still rescues a Czech scientist whom the evil imperialists wanted to kidnap. It was supposed to be a psychological portrait of an intelligence officer under intense stress, yet convinced of his truth...
Akce v Istanbulu
1975
10.0Webs of Prague's post-war underworld.
Smrt na černo
1977
6.2The opera lady singer Ema Destinnová is in all her splendor at the American stages. But in Europe there rages war and she decides to return home to Bohemia.
The Divine Emma
1979
6.0A marquee stands on a sprawling Prague housing estate and is home to two young bricklayers, who have all sorts of life experiences waiting for them in the city. Around the two rural bricklayers absorbed by the big city, the entertainment is more than a little embarrassing, toothless, revealing that at the height of normalisation, even the jolly genre of drama fared poorly, and any satirical allusions were especially undesirable. With no sense of humorous exaggeration and no wittily punctuated plots, the story unfolds, showing how the characters, living in a marquee standing on a sprawling estate, face all the pitfalls of the "big world"...
Lvi salónů
1978
Owners of all kinds of animals and birds, from puppies to sick calves and grasshoppers, come to the veterinary "hospital". They meet with the professionalism and helpfulness of the doctors and especially with the attending nurse Miluska, who finds a kind caress, a smile and help for every creature. She even gets the doctor to visit a sick grasshopper, which its rather stubborn owner left without treatment. There's a bit of loving reverie on Milushka's part, too, because she liked the young man who came with the mare. But it remained just a nice, if a bit silly dream, because the young man is married. But the daily reality overcomes that bit of sadness and Milushka remains faithful to her patients...
Miluška a její zvířátka
1978
6.7It is the summer of 1945. A party of young people are enjoying the beginning of a new life to the full. For them this is the year one. One of them, law student Pavel, is more attracted to film than to law. With his eight-millimeter camera, he films everything that catches his attention. One day he captures an interesting face on film, a girl with an air of mystery. Pavel visits the girl, whose name is Helena, and meets hers and her elder energetic sister Olga. From Olga, he learns that the girls have spent the years of German occupation in a concentration camp and cannot forget the horrors they have lived through.
Lovers in the Year One
1974
8.0In the era of normalization, even seemingly buried agent stories came back. This one takes place in the immediate post-war years and tells the story of the discovery of a spy network that an American diplomat was spinning on Czech territory. He was unsuccessful: first, a close associate, who was proven to have collaborated with the Nazis during the war, committed suicide, followed by the intervention of the vigilant Security Service. However, the fleeing Americans were joined "in return" by a Czechoslovak agent... This naive adventure story could hardly be taken seriously. The book, which served as the basis for the film, was written based on actual events that took place in 1948.
Quiet American in Prague
1978
6.6A group of children are investigating a chain of mysterious events during the seventies.
Odysseus and the Stars
1976
8.1Mr. Novak tells a lie to his neighbor Mrs. Bartackova that her husband is unfaithful to her and that is how it all started.
We'll Kick Up a Fuss Tomorrow, Darling...
1976
2.3Taxi driver Koukal (Miroslav Machácek) is stopped by the police for a routine traffic check. In the boot of his car the police find the body of a naked man. Koukal is arrested even though he claims he knows nothing about it. The case is assigned to Major Mlynár (Milan Sandhaus). The police identify the corpse as that of an Austrian citizen called Mitrik. Koukal has been regularly driving people interested in gambling to a secret gaming den. The police are put onto the gambling den by another taxi driver, who admits that he drove Mitrik there. Mlynár and officer cadet Pecka (Ivan Vyskocil) feign interest in gambling and visit the gaming den incognito.
Past na kachnu
1978
No synopsis available yet.
Díky, pane Kříženecký
1978
7.0The drama of a man for whom work has become the only meaning of life. His cold and impersonal manner arouses the disapproval of his colleagues and family members and leads to alienation. Eventually, he realizes the need for "time out" to reflect on his own life...
Oddechový čas
1978
5.5Two young returnees from the First World War face a difficult future because they cannot find work. One eventually finds a job as an electrician, the other breaks into the Social Democratic press, where he gets the chance to watch up close how the Social Democratic leadership deceives its members and enters the service of the ruling classes. And a newly-trained journalist solves the problem of whether he should also adapt to the corrupt environment...
Skandál v Gri-Gri baru
1979
7.7It is the summer of 1968 and also in South Moravian Pálavice appear political clashes. The so far peacefully farming Unified farmers' cooperative starts splitting. Some of the farmers have found the cooperative called Vidrupa and want to deal with wine in private trade. Michal Janák, chairman of the farmers' cooperative is a deliberate man and refuses the latent return to the capitalism. As an excellent farmer he continues preparing planting out new vineyards. His adversaries do not agree - the returns will come many years later. Jozka Hrdlicka, an émigré, notices on the Austrian TV the interview with the representatives of Vidrupa and decides to visit his native village. The new suit and the hired car transform the bankrupt and criminal to the successful businessman with wine.
Wine Working
1976
3.8A petrol pump is run by a permanent team: the manager Vávra, a former civil engineer ing. Stejskal, a smug crook named Karafa, and an old man, Dvořák, who is about to retire. They have a well-developed system that allows them to divert part of the profits into their own pockets. The only one who wants nothing to do with the crooked business is old Dvorak, who one day will find another job. Into this situation comes a young man, Zdeněk Černý, as a new employee. He's inquisitive and works quickly. He also understands the profit-sharing system. He soon inspires confidence in Vávra and the others, but soon starts to assert his right to an equal share of the profits...
Pumpaři od Zlaté podkovy
1979
10.0A West German businessman Friedrich Schmidt is arriving to Czechoslovakia with private mission and mission for Intelligence service. He wants to settle the old event from the time of the Second World War when he as a student of the Czech grammar school in the town of Kostelec took part at the denunciation of his schoolmate Pavel Richter. Pavel was during the period of Nazi terror following the assassination of Acting Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia Heydrich executed. Schmidt has also to enter into relations with persons suitable for cooperation with the West Intelligence service. Schmidt - earlier, before the German occupation Smíd - meets the schoolmates and endeavors to avert suspicion that arose already at the time of the tragic event.
The Case of Dead Schoolmates
1977
The film was based on the novel "Milión" by Karel Štorkán. The book and the film depict the events surrounding the great construction disaster in Prague in 1928, in which 46 construction workers died. The disaster thrilled the entire republic at the time, yet was never fully explained. The filmmakers focus on the story of Ing. Vondrák, the designer of the construction.
Dům Na poříčí
1977
5.1Energetic Dr. Alice Váňová becomes the pit doctor at Mír Mine and spearheads a silicosis prevention study requiring miners to drink milk regularly. The miners, led by a tight-knit group, stubbornly refuse public participation. Determined union chair Janeček resorts to psychological tactics and pressure campaigns to force their compliance, turning a health initiative into a tense battle of wills.
Our Gang
1977
10.0A mentally ill man is running away from the people who care for him in search of freedom. He accidentally stumbles into a hotel where a ten-year-old girl has been found murdered. Is he really the perpetrator of the horrific crime?
Vražedné pochybnosti
1979
4.8Three short stories. Prague finally sees the approval of the subway construction. Thousands of individuals took part in preparing, course and finalizing construction of subway and their lives crossed at certain points of this construction.
People from the Subway
1974
6.0In the era of normalisation, a number of (pseudo)historical films were made, even described as reconstructions, which glorified the world-building mission of the Communist Party and attributed to it exclusively humanitarian intentions ("Days of Betrayal", "Sokolovo", "Liberation of Prague", "The Victorious People"). In 1929, when its fifth congress met, Klement Gottwald, who had taken the line of the Russian Bolsheviks, took over the leadership of the Communists...
Dvacátý devátý
1975
4.7Civil engineer Luděk Turna accepts an attractive offer from a Prague design office. He tries to get ahead even at the cost of deception, but he recovers in time and voluntarily leaves to build a motorway...
Hřiště
1976
1930s · 1 titles
Series credits
7.3Thirty Cases of Major Zeman is a Czechoslovak action-drama television show intended as a political propaganda to support the official attitude of the communist party. The series were filmed in the 1970s. Each episode encompasses one year, and investigations are stylized to that year. Most are inspired by real cases. The series follows the life of police investigator Jan Zeman during his career from 1945 to 1975.
Thirty Cases of Major Zema
1976
7.6It's the year 2484 and the Earth is threatened by a rogue comet which could fatally change its orbit. The solution is surprising - Adam Bernau, the greatest genius of 20th century developed 500 years ago an ingenious formula for easy transporting of continents and even worlds. Unfortunately, he made this discovery at the age of 11 and the exercise book containing it was destroyed in the fire. But this is not a challenge to Academic Filip who decides to send an expedition back in time to retrieve the precious exercise book from the fire. But everything is not so simple as it seems...
The Visitors
1983

