''The Elementary School'' ( cs, Obecná škola) is a 1991 Czechoslovak comedy-drama film directed by

Jan Svěrák Jan Svěrák () (born 6 February 1965 in Žatec) is a Czech film director. He is the son of screenwriter and actor Zdeněk Svěrák. He studied documentary filmmaking at the FAMU. He and his films have received awards including the Academy Award ...

. The screenplay comes from the pen of his father

Zdeněk Svěrák Zdeněk Svěrák (born 28 March 1936) is a Czech actor, humorist, playwright and scriptwriter, and one of the most well-known and popular Czech cultural personalities. Since 1968 he has appeared in 32 films. Career In 1958, he graduated in Czec ...

. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1991 and is considered to belong among the best Czechoslovak films ever. A prequel, ''

Barefoot Barefoot is the state of not wearing any footwear. There are health benefits and some risks associated with going barefoot. Shoes, while they offer protection, can limit the flexibility, strength, and mobility of the foot and can lead to h ...

'', was released in 2017. The film is set in the early post-war period, in a suburban elementary school in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

's vicinity. A war hero is hired as a teacher, and asked to discipline an unruly class of boys. He soon earns their respect, but he is threatened with termination over his reputed sexual relationship with two schoolgirls.

Plot

Shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, in 1945–46, in one of the suburbs of

(the film was shot in

Michle Michle is a district of Prague city, part of Prague 4 Prague 4, formally the Prague 4 Municipal District (''Městská čast Praha 4''), is a second-tier municipality in Prague. The administrative district (''správní obvod'') of the same name c ...

), Eda Souček attends a boys' elementary school where he belongs to a class with a complete lack of discipline. After the class drives their teacher Maxová to a mental breakdown during one of her classes, the schoolmaster has to implement special measures. Authoritative Igor Hnízdo, who is said to be a great war hero, is hired as their new teacher. He immediately introduces corporal punishment, which, as he explains, is not normally allowed, but the school has received an exception from the Ministry of Education, especially for their class. Whenever he is not satisfied with the boys' behavior, Hnízdo asks them to flex their arms and hits their palms several times with a flexible

switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

. Despite his strict methods, the boys soon become charmed by the man. They love his battlefront stories and the fact that he is always armed and wears a uniform. Eda sees him as the very opposite of his own father, whom he considers to be too cowardly. Hnízdo makes the same positive impression on the townspeople (including Eda's mother). Nevertheless, his persona is also surrounded by many controversies. He is a notorious womanizer and is said to have a special weakness for young girls. His war heroism is also disputed as he is unable to provide any accurate information about his military service. There is even an unconfirmed rumor that Hnízdo's role during the war was to guard a herd of

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

s. But the boys from his class refuse to believe it and even fight those who are spreading these rumors. Hnízdo's reputation suffers after he is accused of having a sexual relationship with local twins who attend a girls school in the same area. He is forced to leave because this is not the first time he has been involved in a similar scandal. The formerly unmanageable boys begin to defend Hnízdo and call for his return. The accusation is finally withdrawn and Hnízdo is reinstalled as their teacher. He states that the way how they dealt with the accusation is a proof that their relationship is now based on mutual trust and physical punishments are no longer required and breaks his switch in half.

Cast

* Václav Jakoubek as Eda Souček *

Jan Tříska Jan Tříska (; 4 November 1936 – 25 September 2017) was a Czech actor who played over 160 roles across stage, film, and television. He worked in the United States after emigrating there in the 1970s, but later returned to his native country fo ...

as Igor Hnízdo * Radoslav Budác as Tonda *

as František Souček *

Libuše Šafránková Libuše Šafránková (7 June 1953 – 9 June 2021, married as ''Abrhámová'') was a Czech actress. Her husband was actor Josef Abrhám. Her breakthrough was the title role in the 1973 film '' Three Nuts for Cinderella'', which is considered ...

as Mrs. Součková *

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 Schoolmaster * Rudolf Hrušínský Jr. as Tonda's father *

Eva Holubová Eva Holubová (born 7 March 1959) is a Czech actress. She is known for having cured herself of alcoholism. She received a Czech Lion Award in 2000 for her supporting role in the film ''Ene Bene'' and in 2006, she was nominated for the Best Actre ...

as Tonda's mother * Petr Čepek as Josef Mrázek (aka fakir Rádži Tamil) * Boleslav Polívka as Plíha * Ondřej Vetchý as Tram driver * Irena Pavlásková as Tram driver's wife *

Daniela Kolářová Daniela Kolářová (born 21 September 1946 in Cheb) is a Czech actress. She has appeared in several Theatre Studio DVA productions. Filmography Film * ''Kawasaki's Rose'' (2009) * '' Vratné lahve'' (2007) ... Eliška * '' Tmavomodrý svě ...

as Teacher Maxová

Production

The original story was written by

. He used his own experiences both as a pupil of a similar school and as a former teacher. This is the first of the films created by the successful father screenwriter - son director duo. The others include '' Akumulátor I.'' (1993), '' Kolja'' (1996), '' Tmavomodrý svět'' (2000) and '' Vratné lahve'' (2007). It was also the first non-documentary film by

. Obecná škola is also notable because it includes one of the last roles for two prominent Czech actors

(his last big screen film) and Petr Čepek (appeared in two more films before his death). The film was also the first appearance of

in a Czech film since his emigration to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1977.

References

External links

* *
Movie details (in Czech)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elementary School, The 1991 films 1990s Czech-language films 1991 comedy-drama films Czech comedy-drama films Films about educators Films about veterans Films directed by Jan Svěrák Films set in 1945 Films set in 1946 Films set in Prague Films shot in Prague Films with screenplays by Zdeněk Svěrák Golden Kingfisher winners Czechoslovak World War II films Czechoslovak comedy-drama films Films set in schools

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links