''Capricious Summer'' (), a 1968 Czechoslovak

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

, was the first colour 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 films ...

. It is based on the novel ''Rozmarné léto'' (Summer of Caprice) by the Czech writer Vladislav Vančura. It was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, but the festival was cancelled due to the events of

May 1968 in France May 68 () was a period of widespread protests, strikes, and civil unrest in France that began in May 1968 and became one of the most significant social uprisings in modern European history. Initially sparked by student demonstrations agains ...

. The film won the Crystal Globe at 1968

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (, KVIFF) is an annual film festival held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Eur ...

. The film depicts a humorous story of three men, a retired artillery major, a priest and a bath-keeper, during rainy summer days.

Plot

At an abandoned swimming resort, three middle-aged men—Antonín Dura, a bathhouse owner; Major Hugo, a retired artillery major; and Canon Roch, the local

abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin , in turn from Greek , , from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is also the title used for lower-ranki ...

—have a bickering conversation. Arnoštek, a touring tightrope walker, arrives and invites them to his circus act. Later that night, they attend Arnostek's performance in the town square. There, all men meet Arnoštek's assistant Anna. After the performance, Antonín rescues Anna from the river. He seduces her, and the two sleep together until they are caught by Antonín's wife Kateřina at sunrise. Infuriated by his infidelity, Kateřina leaves and moves in with Arnoštek. That same night, Canon Roch dines with Anna in her caravan as Antonín looks on from the outside. However, they are interrupted by a mob of village men, who pull Roch out of the caravan and assault him. The next morning, Roch has suffered a torn ear, to which Major Hugo and Antonín meet with him and stitch his ear. For the third night, Hugo and Antonín revisit the circus to see Anna again. During the act, an old man warns Arnoštek, who then falls off the wire and lands on his back, injuring himself. Anna then performs an elegant dance. Afterwards, Hugo dines with Anna in his caravan. Smitten with her, he forces himself on her and falls asleep in her lap. Meanwhile, Arnoštek, now bored with Kateřina's advances, sends her back to Antonín. She and Antonín amend their relationship. By the following morning, Arnoštek searches for Anna, and strikes Hugo with a baton. All three men return to the resort where they notice Arnoštek's caravan leaving town and resume their summer days.

Cast

* Rudolf Hrušínský as Antonín Dura *

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 Major Hugo * František Řehák as Canon Roch * Míla Myslíková as Kateřina Durová * Jana Preissová as Anna (as Jana Drchalová) *

as Arnoštek, the tightrope walker * Bohuš Záhorský as old man * Vlasta Jelínková as housemaid (as V. Jelínková) * Alois Vachek as man in a pub (as A. Vachek) * Bohumil Koska as man in a pub (as B. Koska) * Karel Hovorka as man in a pub (as K. Hovorka) * Antonín Pražák as policeman (as A. Prazak) * Pavel Bosek as Mayor (as P. Bosek)

References

External links

*
''Capricious Summer'' at AllMovie
* * 1968 films 1968 comedy films Czech comedy films Czechoslovak comedy films 1960s Czech-language films Films directed by Jiří Menzel Crystal Globe winners 1960s Czech films {{1960s-comedy-film-stub