Plot
Franta Louka is a concert cellist in Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia, a confirmed bachelor and a lady's man. Having lost his place in the state orchestra, he must make ends meet by playing at funerals and painting tombstones. But he has run up a large debt, and when his friend, the grave-digger Mr. Broz, suggests a scheme for making a lot of money by marrying a Russian woman so that she can get her Czech papers, he reluctantly agrees. She takes advantage of the situation to emigrate to West Germany, to her lover; and leaves her five-year-old son with his grandmother; when the grandmother dies, Kolya must come and live with his stepfather - Louka.
Written by
Pavel Taussig, Zdenek Sverák
Directed by
Jan Sverák
Crew
Production Countries
France, Czech Republic, United Kingdom
Production Companies
CNC, Portobello Pictures, Biograf Jan Sverák, CinemArt, Fonds Eurimages du Conseil de l'Europe, Ceská televize, Státní fond CR pro podporu a rozvoj ceské kinematografie, Pandora Cinema, Space Films
Languages
Ceský, Slovencina
Awards
Won 1 Oscar. 21 wins & 14 nominations total