Otakar Vávra

Directing

Otakar Vávra

Born — Died

1911-02-28 — 2011-09-15

Place of birth

Hradec Králové, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]

Known for

Directing

Credits

48 titles

Otakar Vávra (28 February 1911 – 15 September 2011) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and pedagogue. Vávra attended universities in Brno and Prague, where he studied architecture. During 1929–30, while still a student, he participated in the making of a handful of documentaries and wrote movie scripts. In 1931, he produced the experimental film Světlo proniká tmou. The first movie he directed was 1937's Panenství. His 1938 film The Merry Wives was praised in Variety for "first-rate direction, a salty yarn and elaborate production effort", even though it had undergone certain cuts because it was considered too "ribald" by American censors. Vávra was a member of the Communist Party fr…

Known for

Film credits

2000s · 2 titles

1980s · 2 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

Witchhammer poster
7.6

In the 1600s, an overzealous clergy hauls innocent women in front of tribunals, forces them to confess to imaginary witchery, and engages in brutal torture and persecution of their subjects.

Witchhammer

1970

Witchhammer poster
7.6

In the 1600s, an overzealous clergy hauls innocent women in front of tribunals, forces them to confess to imaginary witchery, and engages in brutal torture and persecution of their subjects.

Witchhammer

1970

Sokolovo poster
4.2

The plot begins in the Soviet Union showing first efforts to establish the Czechoslovak legion in 1942. The film also shows the assassination of Heydrich and the subsequent annihilation of Lidice. The main topis of the film is battles with German troops for Sokolovo.

Sokolovo

1975

Sokolovo poster
4.2

The plot begins in the Soviet Union showing first efforts to establish the Czechoslovak legion in 1942. The film also shows the assassination of Heydrich and the subsequent annihilation of Lidice. The main topis of the film is battles with German troops for Sokolovo.

Sokolovo

1975

No artwork available
7.0

A man and a woman meet on the streetcar. Six years ago, they were close . . .

Listopad

1935

No artwork available
7.0

A man and a woman meet on the streetcar. Six years ago, they were close . . .

Listopad

1935

No artwork available
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Vlast vítá

1945

No artwork available
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Vlast vítá

1945

Krakatit poster
6.5

In Czechoslovakia, in the early 20th century, a seriously ill chemist recalls how he discovered a powerful explosive and how it ended up in the hands of anarchists.

Krakatit

1948

Krakatit poster
6.5

In Czechoslovakia, in the early 20th century, a seriously ill chemist recalls how he discovered a powerful explosive and how it ended up in the hands of anarchists.

Krakatit

1948

The Liberation of Prague poster
5.3

On 20th of April 1945 the Soviet army launches its attack on Berlin. The end has come for Nazi Germany and Hitler decides to commit suicide. In Prague K.H. Frank (Nazi Secretary of State and Chief of police in the Protectorate of Bohemia a Moravia) discusses with his commanders how to transform the city into an impregnable fortress, but the Praguers do not intend to wait any longer. From the early hours of 4th of May people start assembling in the streets and tearing down German signs. On the next day, the 5th of May, the uprising begins.

The Liberation of Prague

1977

The Liberation of Prague poster
5.3

On 20th of April 1945 the Soviet army launches its attack on Berlin. The end has come for Nazi Germany and Hitler decides to commit suicide. In Prague K.H. Frank (Nazi Secretary of State and Chief of police in the Protectorate of Bohemia a Moravia) discusses with his commanders how to transform the city into an impregnable fortress, but the Praguers do not intend to wait any longer. From the early hours of 4th of May people start assembling in the streets and tearing down German signs. On the next day, the 5th of May, the uprising begins.

The Liberation of Prague

1977

The Masked Lover poster
8.0

A romantic story of a noble lady who wanted to live without the bonds of marriage, but her desire for a child led her - carefully disguised - into the arms of a young nobleman. Only years later did she believe in his love and make herself known.

The Masked Lover

1940

The Masked Lover poster
8.0

A romantic story of a noble lady who wanted to live without the bonds of marriage, but her desire for a child led her - carefully disguised - into the arms of a young nobleman. Only years later did she believe in his love and make herself known.

The Masked Lover

1940

Oldrich and Bozena poster
4.5

At the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries Boleslav's kingdom fell apart in the fratricidal war between the Přemyslovci and the other clans the main profiteer of this being the German emperor. At that time it seemed as if the Czech state and the lineage of its princes was awaiting its end..." It is with these words that the tale of this film begins, whose narrative is based upon the the play by František Hrubín of the same name.

Oldrich and Bozena

1985

Oldrich and Bozena poster
4.5

At the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries Boleslav's kingdom fell apart in the fratricidal war between the Přemyslovci and the other clans the main profiteer of this being the German emperor. At that time it seemed as if the Czech state and the lineage of its princes was awaiting its end..." It is with these words that the tale of this film begins, whose narrative is based upon the the play by František Hrubín of the same name.

Oldrich and Bozena

1985

No artwork available
10.0

Montage of documentary footage from the liberation and building of the republic as a tribute to JV Stalin on his seventieth birthday.

Láska

1950

No artwork available
10.0

Montage of documentary footage from the liberation and building of the republic as a tribute to JV Stalin on his seventieth birthday.

Láska

1950

Shoesmachine poster
8.0

The happenings in a shoe factory serve as a not very thinly veiled examination of the pros and cons of both socialism and democracy.

Shoesmachine

1954

Hostinec „U kamenného stolu“ poster
7.3

An innkeeper is grieving because his wife left him for a second-rate actor. His two nephews, who are not on speaking terms, have to take over the running of the establishment...

Hostinec „U kamenného stolu“

1949

Romance for Bugle poster
5.4

A lyrical story about first love, death and disappointment, based on a poem of the same title.

Romance for Bugle

1967

Romance for Bugle poster
5.4

A lyrical story about first love, death and disappointment, based on a poem of the same title.

Romance for Bugle

1967

A Story of Love and Honor poster
6.5

A story of love and honor that takes place during the mid-nineteenth century during revolutions, as well as economic, political, and social hypocrisy. Two extraordinary but lonely artists share a passionate love, as evidenced by the preserved letters that they exchanged.

A Story of Love and Honor

1978

A Story of Love and Honor poster
6.5

A story of love and honor that takes place during the mid-nineteenth century during revolutions, as well as economic, political, and social hypocrisy. Two extraordinary but lonely artists share a passionate love, as evidenced by the preserved letters that they exchanged.

A Story of Love and Honor

1978

Humoreska poster
8.0

Dvořák's well-known composition reappears again and again in the serious moments of the lives of the father and son Hupeks - talented non-professional musicians for whom music gives them the opportunity to rise above difficulties and problems...

Humoreska

1939

Humoreska poster
8.0

Dvořák's well-known composition reappears again and again in the serious moments of the lives of the father and son Hupeks - talented non-professional musicians for whom music gives them the opportunity to rise above difficulties and problems...

Humoreska

1939

The Girl in Blue poster
6.5

A painting of a girl from another time comes to life for it's buyer in this costume comedy.

The Girl in Blue

1940

The Girl in Blue poster
6.5

A painting of a girl from another time comes to life for it's buyer in this costume comedy.

The Girl in Blue

1940

No artwork available
8.0

The family of the worker Kučera lives happily. His daughter Anežka, engaged to technical draftsman Adolf, is a seamstress. His son Váš is studying to be a machinist. The family also includes his grandfather, a former miner. However, an economic crisis is beginning. Factories stop production. Adolf loses his job and has an argument with Anežka, who has no idea the cause of his nervousness.

Svítání

1933

Silent Barricade poster
7.0

A fiction piece centered around the Czech resistance to the Nazis.

Silent Barricade

1949

Silent Barricade poster
7.0

A fiction piece centered around the Czech resistance to the Nazis.

Silent Barricade

1949

Bezdětná poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Bezdětná

1935

Happy Journey poster
6.7

Filmed during the Nazi occupation, this panoramic drama set in a Prague department store follows the divergent destinies of four female coworkers, each of whom seeks happiness in a different way.

Happy Journey

1943

Happy Journey poster
6.7

Filmed during the Nazi occupation, this panoramic drama set in a Prague department store follows the divergent destinies of four female coworkers, each of whom seeks happiness in a different way.

Happy Journey

1943

Veronika poster
4.0

Emperor Francis Joseph I is about to arrive in Prague, and among those who came to Stromovka to welcome him is Veronika Pavlitová. She wants to submit a request for clemency for her imprisoned father to the emperor, because she is barely able to support herself and her siblings on the meager salary of a seamstress. By chance, the girl meets Božena Němcová, whom she admires immensely. She becomes her friend and confidant for a while. However, police director Paümann, who has been following Božena Němcová for a long time, takes advantage of the naivety of the young girl. Veronika, in her simple-mindedness, tells him many things. Only later will she understand how she was abused.

Veronika

1986

Veronika poster
4.0

Emperor Francis Joseph I is about to arrive in Prague, and among those who came to Stromovka to welcome him is Veronika Pavlitová. She wants to submit a request for clemency for her imprisoned father to the emperor, because she is barely able to support herself and her siblings on the meager salary of a seamstress. By chance, the girl meets Božena Němcová, whom she admires immensely. She becomes her friend and confidant for a while. However, police director Paümann, who has been following Božena Němcová for a long time, takes advantage of the naivety of the young girl. Veronika, in her simple-mindedness, tells him many things. Only later will she understand how she was abused.

Veronika

1986

The Light Penetrates the Dark poster
5.7

Zdenek Pešánek created the first public kinetic sculpture, for the power station in Prague. This short experimental film focuses on a kinetic sculpture by Zdenek Pešánek. For a period of eight years it issued beams of light from the outside wall of a transformer station at Prague’s power utility before its destruction in 1939. Though genuine, these shots seem abstract to us. They are a rhythmically assembled ode to the light-creating devices and phenomena of electricity. Light arcs, coils, bulbs and various luminous elements support the alternation of positive and negative film images, creating an impressive universe of light and shade. In the 1920s, Pešánek had obtained financial support for his work with electric kinetic light art. In the 1930s, he was the first sculptor to use neon lights. He built several kinetic light pianos, and published a book titled “Kinetismus” in 1941. —http://www.centerforvisualmusic.org

The Light Penetrates the Dark

1931

The Light Penetrates the Dark poster
5.7

Zdenek Pešánek created the first public kinetic sculpture, for the power station in Prague. This short experimental film focuses on a kinetic sculpture by Zdenek Pešánek. For a period of eight years it issued beams of light from the outside wall of a transformer station at Prague’s power utility before its destruction in 1939. Though genuine, these shots seem abstract to us. They are a rhythmically assembled ode to the light-creating devices and phenomena of electricity. Light arcs, coils, bulbs and various luminous elements support the alternation of positive and negative film images, creating an impressive universe of light and shade. In the 1920s, Pešánek had obtained financial support for his work with electric kinetic light art. In the 1930s, he was the first sculptor to use neon lights. He built several kinetic light pianos, and published a book titled “Kinetismus” in 1941. —http://www.centerforvisualmusic.org

The Light Penetrates the Dark

1931

No artwork available
9.0

Otakar Vávra walks through Prague in front of the camera and with the camera, and remembers those who in the 1930s determined the pulse of the cultural and political life of that time.

Moje Praha

2002

No artwork available
9.0

Otakar Vávra walks through Prague in front of the camera and with the camera, and remembers those who in the 1930s determined the pulse of the cultural and political life of that time.

Moje Praha

2002