The Elementary School / Obecná škola (1991)

Thursday / 25th May 2006 / 20:00

Czech Republic / 1991 / 90 minutes / director: Jan Sverak / screenplay: Zdenek Sverak / cinematography: Frantisek A. Brabec / editor: Alois Fisarek / music: Jiri Svoboda / cast: Jan Triska (Igor Hnizdo), Zdenek Sverak (Soucek), Libuse Safrankova (Souckova), Rudolf Hrusinsky (principal), Vaclav Jakoubek (Eda) /

In the year 1991 director Jan Sverak hit the „big screen“ with this easy-going film which, although described as a children´s movie, is rather targeted at their parents. It was his feature debut and the truth is he was never supposed to make it. The screenplay of his father was originally written for another well-known Czech filmmaker – Vit Olmer. However, Olmer was busy at the time and the script passed to Zdenek Sverak´s son Jan.

Young Eda and his friend Tonda are members of a notorious boy class feared by every teacher. The only thing that concerns their minds is the colour of their teacher´s panties. That´s why after their constant resistance and refusal to listen, she goes mad and has to be replaced. The new teacher is a man of strict morals and teaching methods. His name is Igor Hnizdo, he is always dressed in army clothes and has plenty of war stories to tell, sounding too heroic to be true. The only thing he likes more than his cane are women. This man becomes the children´s hero.

Jan Sverak´s first film was a huge success of the year 1991. He showed his abilities and revealed a promising potential in the young generation of Czech filmmakers. It is always important to have a good screenplay to start with and Jan Sverak could not complain about that. His father offered him a script which was easy to follow and Jan Sverak understood it very well. He kept the poetics of it to the smallest details. The Elementary School is a funny film with plenty of remarkable scenes, dialogues and good acting, at the same time it manages to touch upon the darker side of the „good times“ – times of victory, but also the eve of the Communist coup in 1948.

Štefan Titka