I Served the King of England (Czech, Subtitled in English) R
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DVD Details
- Rated: R
- Run Time: 1 hours, 59 minutes
- Video: Color
- Encoding: Region 1 (USA & Canada)
- Released: February 17, 2009
- Originally Released: 2008
- Label: Sony Pictures
Performers, Cast and Crew:
Starring | Ivan Barnev & Julia Jentsch | |
Performer: | Marian Labuda, Milan Lasica, Zuzana Fialová, Martin Huba & Josef Abrham | |
Directed by | Jiri Menzel | |
Composition by | Ales Brezina | |
Produced by | Robert Schaffer & Andrea Metcalfe | |
Director of Photography: | Jaromir Sofr |
Entertainment Reviews:
The movie is filled with wonderful moments, set pieces of absurdity, and a richness of humor. But underneath, Menzel and Hraba have a wry and sometimes painful story to tell of the history of their country in the 20th century.
Full Review
Film.com
Rating: 3.5/4 --
A captivating, heartwarming, and ultimately life affirming celebration of what makes us human.
Full Review
From the Front Row
[The] scenes of marathon gourmandizing offer some of the most pungently satirical observations of unfettered gluttony ever filmed....There is hardly a moment in this new film in which you are not aware that its absurdist view of the human condition was shaped by traumatic 20th-century events.
New York Times
Rating: 2/5 --
The pseudo-sensuality is annoying and the supposed absurdism and satire are flimsy.
Full Review
Guardian
3 stars out of 5 -- This splendid late-career offering emanates fairy-tale enchantment with touches of magical realism, while also accurately illustrating the precariousness of moral and ethical development...
Box Office
Rating: 3/4 --
I Served the King of England plays like a combination of Life Is Beautiful and Forrest Gump.
San Antonio Express-News
This inventive, charming picture-perfect picaresque tale of an ambitious young Czech rascal scrambling in the pre-Nazi and wartime eras marks a welcome and victorious return for Jiri Menzel, whose last major conquest was his 1967 Oscar-winning debut, C
Full Review
Film Journal International
Product Description:
Czech director Jiri Menzel has worked only sporadically since making a splash in the 1960s with lauded features such as CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS. I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND is another welcome invitation to witness Menzel's singular vision, which is liberally sprinkled with homage to silent features, vaudeville, and slapstick. The film tells the story of Jan Dite, an ordinary Czech citizen who reflects on life after being released from jail. Much of the film is told in flashback, with Menzel transporting his audience back to Dite's younger days in Prague, both before and during World War II, where the young restaurant worker does whatever it takes to fulfill his dreams of becoming a millionaire. His reckless and frequently hilarious path to achieving his goal becomes the backbone of the movie, and Menzel deftly edits back and forth between the older and younger versions of Dite as his history is revealed.
The younger version of Dite is played to excellent effect by Ivan Barnev, who manages to make the character extremely compelling. Barnev and Menzel even conspire to find humor in Dite's darkest hours, such as his marriage to a Nazi (played by Julia Jentsch) and his job in a Czech "breeding center" set up to produce Hitler youth. Food and sex become important parts of the storyline as Dite demonstrates his passion for both, and the rampant urges of his younger self are neatly tempered by Menzel's flash-forwards to the older version of the character (played by Oldrich Kaiser). Like CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS, this feature is an adaptation of a novel by Czech writer Bohumil Hrabel, and it's another hugely entertaining and utterly peerless piece of work from an inspired director.
The younger version of Dite is played to excellent effect by Ivan Barnev, who manages to make the character extremely compelling. Barnev and Menzel even conspire to find humor in Dite's darkest hours, such as his marriage to a Nazi (played by Julia Jentsch) and his job in a Czech "breeding center" set up to produce Hitler youth. Food and sex become important parts of the storyline as Dite demonstrates his passion for both, and the rampant urges of his younger self are neatly tempered by Menzel's flash-forwards to the older version of the character (played by Oldrich Kaiser). Like CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS, this feature is an adaptation of a novel by Czech writer Bohumil Hrabel, and it's another hugely entertaining and utterly peerless piece of work from an inspired director.
Product Description:
A busboy with an inferiority complex and a driving ambition to become a millionaire quickly rises to become a head waiter, but the respect he craves continues to allude him. When he marries a Nazi gym teacher, the Czechs despise him even more, while the Germans barely tolerate him. Rare stamps taken from wealthy Jews make his dream come true after the war, but his first-class hotel is soon nationalized by the Communists and he ends his life in poverty and isolation.
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Product Info
- Sales Rank: 127,214
- UPC: 043396280250
- Shipping Weight: 0.25/lbs (approx)
- International Shipping: 1 item