The character of Jára Cimrman, invented on the radio in 1966 (which we hope we don't have to introduce here), found his way into the theater shortly afterwards. In the theater, the hero's various paths and adventures were mostly presented in the form of lectures. The main protagonists were Ladislav Smoljak and Zdeněk Svěrák. The socialist authorities always had great difficulties with their absurd and subversive nature, but they did not dare to ban them (or had no concrete means of doing so). Instead, they harassed the theater with constant relocations.
In the film, the small theater group is called Divadlo starých forem (Theater of the Old Form). It has to move once again, to a new "location" further away from the city center and to an unsuitable hall in a cultural center. At the same time, they are expected to premiere a new play in a few months' time. We get a glimpse behind the scenes of the amateur theater, get to know the different personalities and their interactions and experience the difficulties of dealing with the authorities. Apart from the plays on stage, nothing is said to have been invented, but is based on real events. You will probably never get as close to the ingenious duo Smoljak/Svěrák as in this movie.
Even though the name Jára Cimrman is not mentioned once in the film, it is clear to everyone that it depicts the difficulties and peculiarities of the theater of the same name very realistically. In typical Czech fashion, the characters also poke fun at themselves. Excerpts from the repertoire of the Divadlo Járy Cimrmana can be seen on stage.
This film will be shown as part of the "Czech Film Wednesday" series, as always in the original version with German subtitles.
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