''Larks on a String'' ( cs, Skřivánci na niti) is a 1969

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

film directed by

Jiří Menzel Jiří Menzel () (23 February 1938 – 5 September 2020) was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these f ...

. The film was banned by the

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

government, but was later released in 1990 after the fall of the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

regime. It tells the stories of various characters considered

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. ...

by Czechoslovakia's communist government in the 1950s, who have been forced to work in a junkyard for the purposes of re-education. It won the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The win ...

at the

40th Berlin International Film Festival The 40th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 February 1990. The festival opened with '' Steel Magnolias'' by Herbert Ross, which was shown out of competition. The Golden Bear was awarded ''ex aequo'' to the American f ...

Cast

Rudolf Hrušínský Rudolf Hrušínský (17 October 1920 – 13 April 1994) was a Czech actor. He was one of the most popular Czech actors. Many of his movies such as ''The Good Soldier Švejk'', ''The Cremator'' or '' Capricious Summer'' are considered classics of ...

as Trustee *

Vlastimil Brodský Vlastimil Brodský (15 December 1920 – 20 April 2002) was a Czech actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films, and is considered a key figure in the postwar development of Czech cinema. One of his best-known roles was as the title charac ...

as Professor *

Václav Neckář Václav Neckář (born 23 October 1943 in Prague) is a Czech singer and actor. He is best known for his performance as Miloš Hrma in ''Closely Watched Trains''. Between 1978 and 1979 he cooperated with Polish singer Anna Jantar during their perf ...

as Pavel Hvezdár *

Jitka Zelenohorská Jitka Zelenohorská (born 11 November 1946, in Prague) is a Czech actress. She performed in more than seventy films from 1961 to 1990. In the 1960s, she lived with the singer Waldemar Matuška Waldemar Matuška (; July 2, 1932 – May 30, 2009 ...

as Jitka * Jaroslav Satoranský as Guard Andel *

Vladimír Šmeral Vladimír Šmeral (16 October 1903, in Drásov – 15 March 1982, in Prague) was a Czech actor. Life Šmeral started acting in Zemské divadlo in Brno. He moved to Prague and acted in Liberated Theatre, E. F. Burian's theatre and Divadlo na Po� ...

as Minister *

Ferdinand Krůta Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

as Kudla * František Řehák as Drobecek * Leoš Suchařípa as Public prosecutor * Vladimír Ptáček as Mlíkar * Eugen Jegorov as Saxophonist (as Evžen Jegorov) * Naďa Urbánková as Lenka * Věra Křesadlová as Convict *

Věra Ferbasová Věra Ferbasová (21 September 1913 – 4 August 1976) was a Czechoslovak film actress. Selected filmography * '' In the Little House Below Emauzy'' (1933) * '' Man in Demand on All Sides'' (1934) * '' A Woman Who Knows What She Wants'' (1934) * ...

as Convict * Jiřina Štěpničková as Pavel's mother

References

External links

* 1969 films 1969 comedy films 1990 films Czechoslovak comedy films 1960s Czech-language films Films based on works by Bohumil Hrabal Films directed by Jiří Menzel Golden Bear winners Golden Kingfisher winners Films critical of communism Censored films {{1960s-comedy-film-stub